A Light in the Dark
by Angeltsuki
Summary: Inuyasha betrayed Kagome for Kikyo. What will happen when Kagome runs into the YYH gang? Will there be more problems? IYxYYH crossover. Hieikag
1. A Night of True Pain

**+ A Night of True Pain +**

It all happened so fast. Kagome couldn't register what was going on. All she knew was that she was in danger and was running for her, Kirara, and Shippo's lives. Her clothes were being torn up by branches as she ran. Shippo was in her arms bleeding and wounded. She would have stopped to heal him but she didn't have time. Kirara was on her shoulder also bleeding. But the wound was on her shoulder not on her stomach like Shippo's. Tears were flowing down her face as the mixing with the rain that pouring out of the black night sky. Kagome was running on instinct and didn't try to regain control over her body. Shippo was cringing with pain, his hands pressed against his wound to slow the bleeding. They all felt betrayed, and it hurt them to the bottom of their hearts.

**+Flashback+**

Inuyasha left them telling them he was scouting the area and would be back later. Kagome had a feeling in the pit of her gut that something was going to be terribly wrong before the night was over. She ignored it and went to watch Shippo draw pictures for her in an attempt to ease her mind. Over the years she had come to love him as her son and he loved her as his mother in return. They were practically attached to the hip. Where ever she went he went, most of the time. He would stay behind when she went to her time. He had wished he could go, but Inuyasha would never let him.

Kagome sat there for what felt like days, in truth it was hours. Three hours Inuyasha has not come back. Kagome was starting to get worried. She looked at her friends that were more like brother and sister to her. Concern shined in her eyes. Sango and Miroku both saw this and nodded. They knew this meant that Kagome was going to look for Inuyasha. No matter how much they didn't want her to, they gave their consent knowing she would anyways.

She got up and looked at the night sky. A cool breeze came by and it calmed her a bit. Shippo also got up, noticing that she was set on leaving camp. He jumped into Kagome's waiting arms. She smiled at him. They both subconsciously knew from the beginning... Inuyasha had gone to see Kikyo again. They knew yet they were going to confront them, hoping Kikyo wasn't trying to drag him to hell again. Kagome's heart ached a bit. He went to see _her_ behind her back. Even after he had told her he wouldn't. Then again he never gave her _her_ word, so it was to be expected.

"Shippo can you tell where they are, sweetheart?" Kagome asked. Shippo nodded slowly. "Yes... but I don't think we should go there." he warned.

She was aware of that as she was every time, but she didn't care. Not at that moment. So she walked calmly, like nothing was wrong, so calm it was almost scary. Her face looked calm and content that went perfectly well with her walk. All of her cool collectiveness was sending shivers to Shippo's spine. Something was going to happen, something that didn't bode well.

They were behind a tree when they came across Inuyasha and Kikyo. The two were currently locked in a passionate kiss. When they broke apart Kikyo leaned onto Inuyasha's chest. Inuyasha placed his head on Kikyo's shoulder and breathed in her disgusting scent. Although to Inuyasha it was beautiful. Kagome was hurt and upset at the sight she was granted, so she hid her eyes behind her bangs.

"Inuyasha… you love me, do you not?" Kikyo's voice was full of feigned innocence.

"Of course, Kikyo… You have to ask?" he answered huskily. She moaned at the tone of his voice.

"Then you will kill my reincarnate so I may have a whole soul. My soul." she said, her breathing labored.

"Yes my love, anything for you. The girl… Kagome will die." he replied like an obedient puppy.

Then Kagome stepped to from behind the tree into the lovers' line of. Kikyo smirked at her appearance. Shippo jumped down in front of Kagome growling in a warning tone at the dead miko. Inuyasha snarled at the kitsune. Kagome however displayed nothing but indifference. She continued to appear calm, like nothing was happening, like they weren't talking about her death. Her eyes held no emotion. She walked toward Kikyo still calm and collected. Kagome smiled as she was getting closer and closer to Kikyo.

"You can have the traitor, Kikyo." Kagome said close to a whisper.

Everyone in the clearing was shocked. Kagome never called Inuyasha a traitor. She was in love with him, she couldn't live without him, she always defended him and justified his words and actions.

Shippo gasped. "You're gonna let Kikyo take Inuyasha to hell?" he asked in awe. Kagome smiled softly and nodded. "He is a traitor. I want nothing to do with the likes of him. He would dispose his own friend for his dead love, who takes the souls of innocent girls and is suppose to be in hell… where she _belongs_." she said.

Inuyasha was pissed at the words that fell from her lips. He was just called a traitor and his perfect beautiful lover was spoken of in ill. He would not stand for it; especially by a stupid, stubborn, bitchy reincarnation who easily attracted trouble and would never compare to her incarnate. He growled at Kagome. His blood was boiling and he was beginning to seeing red. Kikyo slowly took his sword from him and allowing his youkai blood to take over. "You will pay dearly bitch." he growled.

He jumped and hit Shippo in the gut, his claws lengthened claws cutting the kit. Shippo went flying into Kagome's arms. Inuyasha looked at the young miko with menacing eyes. He wanted blood, her blood. He wanted to feel it on his body, bathe in it, to feel the gooey substance on his sharp claws.

Shippo was wounded in that one hit. It wasn't deep enough to prove fatal though. Just a scratch though he was bleeding heavily. He would pass out within the hour if he wasn't treated. Kagome looked down quickly assessing her kit's wound and frowned. "This is it Inuyasha... good-bye." with that said she ran as fast as she could to the campsite, Inuyasha not far behind.

When she reached camp Miroku and Sango were alert. They felt Inuyasha had changed into a full youkai and were prepared to attack. They told her to run and they loved her, so they would make this sacrifice for her and Shippo. She nodded with the sensation of tears burning behind her eyes, grabbed her pack, which wasn't as heavy as usual due to the lack of supplies, grabbed her bow and arrows and dashed to the direction to the well.

While she was running it started to rain. The sky had pitied her and decided to cry. That didn't stop her though, she kept running. As she was running she heard two pained screams; that told her of her friends' death. Kagome looked back. Tears started coming from her eyes and began to blend with the rain. As she looked back she noticed Kirara running toward them. She was in her little form with a wound on her shoulder. Kagome ran back picked Kirara up and started running towards the well again.

Kirara climbed to Kagome's shoulder and hid under her hair. She thought this would be easier position so Kagome could run easier with Shippo in her arms. Behind them they heard howling. They knew it was Inuyasha's howl and didn't look back.

**+End Flashback+**

Kagome reached the well and hugged onto Shippo when she jumped in. A blue light surrounded them when they were about to hit the bottom. As they made it Kagome climbed out the well as fast as she could. When she got out she ran to the door of the well.

Kirara and Shippo had about 5 seconds to take in their surroundings because as soon as Kagome was out she turned, slammed the door then ran to the park down her street. The park had a wooded area that no one went into but her. She would heal them there.

When she reached the bottom of the shrine steps Inuyasha was at the top. She gasped and ran down to the park. Inuyasha was soon close behind the trio. She screamed 'move out of the way' as she was running. The people looked at her and saw the two of them injured and moved to the side so they could pass. She didn't want them to get hurt by Inuyasha because of her.

On the third block she ran into a group of four males. They looked at her with worry. Fear was evident in her eyes as her pupils were dilated. She felt easily their power and instinct told her they could help. "Please help us! Don't let him get us. Please?" she looked at them with watery eyes as she spoke to them in a frenzied manner. They looked at the kit in her arms and nodded. Inuyasha came to her fast and slashed at her back. She fell onto the ground. All of the other civilians ran for safety. The one in the red jacket and jeans stepped in front of her. "What kind of sick freak are you!? You don't attack innocent women!" He yelled.

Inuyasha sneered. "Hand the wench over. She must pay... and give me the jewel shards. She's just a stupid weak reincarnation." he spat.

"You… you… _bastard_! After all we've been through you still call me weak? I am _not_ Kikyo. I am not your bitch, wench or anything else you can think of. I belong to no one, you _traitor_." she hissed.

She lifted herself up with little struggle so she wasn't huddling over Shippo anymore.

Shippo whimpered. "Okaa-san, I don't want to lose you too." he grabbed onto her shirt and cried. Kagome instinctively held his head in a soothing manner.

More tears fell from her eyes that now displayed anger along with her hurt. Her aura flared up stunning the group she had ran into. They thought she was a weak and defenseless civilian, how wrong they were. "I want the rest of my soul back from that clay pot. I hate feeling incomplete..." she whimperd lightly. More tears fell from her eyes. "Sit, Inuyasha. Just shut up and sit." She said, pain was clear in her voice. Inuyasha plummeted into the ground, but not without a fight. He held his ground struggling to stand so much after he fell, the beads fell off him.

Shippo started to cry with fright only to remind him of his pain. "Okaa-san my stomach hurts. Really bad." he cried. She nodded. She stared warily at Inuyasha as she healed Shippo's wound. When she finished Inuyasha was off the ground trying to attack her. She backed up just in time to get away from his lethal claws. "Don't touch my mother you stupid hanyou!" Shippo yelled in Kagome's arms, hiding in the comfort of her chest. Kirara hissed in agreement.

Inuyasha was about to attack again when his left arm was cut off, like soft butter with a butter knife. He screamed his pain. He looked for the one responsible for his pain. The one in black had a sword with his blood on it. "You will regret helping her later, forbidden bastard." Inuyasha snarled. He grabbed the spot where his arm once was and left.

Kagome was shaking and wet, a little of Inuyasha's blood splashed on her face. Her eyes were wide and she was hyperventilating now that everything had settled in her mind. Shippo hugged her. "It's okay Okaa-san. We're okay now." he assured Kagome. She nodded and hugged him closer. "Shippo he wants me dead. He's gonna kill me for Kikyo." she said, pain, fear, and worry laced her voice. "I'll get stronger and protect you. Then you won't have to worry." he said tried to assure. "But right now you have to heal your wounds." he said. She nodded and a small sad smile met her face.

"Are you okay miss?" the one with incredible red hair and green eyes asked. She looked up at them. "Somehow yes. Thank you all so much. You don't know how much I owe you." she said. "It's okay. It's our job to protect people from youkai." the ugly red said. "Why don't we go to my house and tend to your wounds? By the way I'm Kurama." Kurama said.

"I'm Yusuke. The one in black doesn't talk much. His name is Hiei." Yusuke said.

"And I am the great Kazuma Kuwabara." said Kuwabara while posing. Kagome looked at all of them and nodded. "I am Kagome. This is Shippo and Kirara." she said pointing to the last members of her group. "I think I'm gonna take a nap." she said and passed out.

The boys looked at each other and nodded in silent agreement. Kurama picked Kagome up bridal style. Shippo and Kirara climbed onto his shoulders. Yusuke carried her pack and Hiei grabbed her bow and arrows.

They walked to Kurama's house and headed straight to his room. His mother wasn't there being that she was at work, so they didn't have to worry about that.

_'Ugh. My whole body hurts. Why does this have to happen to me? I didn't do anything to deserve this. Where's the karma? I did good__,__ so when's the good supposed to come back? I think I better explain to the guys who saved me my story. They're probably confused… It's the least I could do.' _Kagome thought as she was starting to stir.

"I think we need to tell Koenma about this, after she's healed." Yusuke said. Kurama and Kuwabara nodded. She wouldn't make a good impression looking battered up like she did now.

She opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. It was a beautiful room full of mahogany wood. Dark cherry wood floors, mahogany bed board, a mahogany dresser, and a mahogany desk. The comforter on her was forest green, as were the walls.

"Nice place." she mumbled as she was sitting up. Everyone looked at her with concern, except Hiei, who kept his stoic mask in place. "How long have I been out?" she quietly asked rubbing the top of her head and weakly trying to smile sheepishly at them.

**End chapter**


	2. Big Trouble

**+ Big Trouble +**

Kurama smiled, he was relieved that she had come to it was clearly a good sign. She had lost a lot of blood for a human. "You've been out for about 3 and a half hours." he said with a soft chuckle. After he had said that she blushed profusely. She was out sleeping in a boy's bed, without the boy of course, being watched over and cared for, while they also looked after her son. She was really embarrassed at that. _'Way to go, Kagome. Now you have to learn where you are, and then we'll see what happens.' _she thought.

Then it hit her. She paled. "Ano... Where's Shippo?" she asked cautiously. Yusuke looked at her. "Down stairs in the kitchen eating, why?" he replied. She looked him in the eye with a gleam shining in hers. "What is he eating?" she asked. "Chocolate." he answered, totally confused. "And how much did he have?" she asked softly. "About 2 good pounds." he said cautiously. Kagome's eyes widened. "He had how much of _what_!?" she shouted as she bolted up right. She jumped out of the bed and made a dash to the room where she felt Shippo, which happened to be the kitchen.

They followed her. "Shippo!? Shippo? Shippo, where are you?" she asked with worry. Then in front of them, on the table was a naked fox kit covered in chocolate with a lamp shade on his head dancing while screaming "Whooohoooo!", "Wheeeeee!", and "Power to the little people!" . She sighed. "Somehow I knew this was gonna happen." she said with her head down. All but Hiei laughed sheepishly, now they understood why she was worried, Shippo was now a hyper psychotic cute maniac.

She walked over to him and picked him up. He was still dancing in her arms. She sighed again and took off the lamp shade. Then Kagome looked at the men behind her with a small smile. "May I ask where the bathroom is?" she asked. They all knew that Shippo had to be washed. He was after all covered in chocolate, lots and lots of chocolate.

Then she noticed that she was no longer wearing her school uniform, but a pair of men's pajamas. They were plaid with the colors black and green. She blushed a bit. She didn't know that they'd actually treat her wounds and then change her into something more suitable to sleep in. Then again, who would want their bed covered in blood? Then she looked down her shirt only to see if the shikon jewel was still there. She turned crimson, her bra wasn't there, the jewel was untouched, but her bra wasn't.

She looked up at them, her blush still evident. "Ano... who dressed me?" she asked, her voice an octave higher than usual. Yusuke sent a genuine sly smile her way. "Ask them." he said, jerking his thumb towards Kurama and Hiei. Hiei glared at him. "Okay... which one of you changed me?" she asked slowly regaining her composer. She felt at least they would respect her modesty and change her as fast as possible or not look. Hiei looked at her and gruffly said, "Hn. I did."

She nodded to him. "Thank you... but did you have to remove my bra?" she asked softly with a pretty blush on her face. There was silence for a moment before he said in a bored tone, "Yes. It was already ripped beyond repair." She smiled at him accepting his reason. Then Shippo decided to speak and point his finger in the air in some random direction. "Onward! To the… bath-room?" he said trying out the word, "To make me squeaky clean!"

Kagome giggled softly at him. "Yes, yes. Come on I think I have a pack of crayons and paper in my pack for when you're done. Alright?" her face could be described as the definition of happiness, but her eyes told a different story. She was sad yet happy. She wouldn't let her only child see her pain, they respected her for that. They didn't know much about her yet they already knew she was suffering from many troubles just from what they had witnessed. And even though it was a whisper earlier the youkai heard her say that she wanted her soul back and she hated feeling incomplete. They were unsure of what she meant, but hoped to find out sooner rather than later. Kurama lead her to the bathroom and went to retrieve her backpack.

"Come on you hyper kit. You know you're not supposed to eat too much chocolate, as punishment no candy for two days." Kagome scolded, wagging her finger in the air to emphasize what she said. When she said no candy he started to whine and get all dramatic. "No candy for two whole days? How will I live? How will I survive? I won't be completely aware of anything. Candy gives me the extra boost I need." and he continued going on for the next five minutes until she figured that he had enough time to exaggerate. So she put a finger to his lips to shush him. "No candy for the next two days. No buts. End of discussion." She said.

'_Nooo. My poor candy. Who will eat you when you feel the need to be eaten by me? How will I go on? Oh well, it's no use__..__. Like they say, mothers know best. And so far Kagome is a great mom. So I guess I should trust her judgment__.__'_

She looked over her shoulder. She had felt eyes staring at her for a while and it was getting a tad bit annoying. When she turned she saw Kurama with her pack and Hiei with a sulky look on his face. Then she put Shippo on a stool next to the bathtub that was filling up with warm water, got up and grabbed her bag from Kurama with a thank you.

With that she turned back to Shippo and started digging in her bag. After half a minute she pulled out a bunch of bathing supplies; a washcloth, a bottle of lemongrass scented shampoo, a bottle of lemongrass scented conditioner, and a bottle of honey body-wash. Then she put her hair into a ponytail with a dark red hair tie.

Kagome then took the bow holding Shippo's hair up, out. His scraggly red hair fell to shoulder length. Then she proceeded to pour a bucket of water on his head and repeated for his tail, making sure she got all of him. Next she took the shampoo and was washing his tail as carefully as possible. It was chocolate coated. The chocolate was coming off and was drifted to the drain in the floor. After she rinsed his tail off and did the same to his hair, while making sure the chocolate went down the drain.

When that was done she applied conditioner to his hair and tail. Then she put some body-wash in his hands and had him wash his body as she washed his back. After 5 minutes she took the conditioner out. Then she rinsed him completely and put him in the bath tub for about 20 minutes letting him splash a bit. After she grabbed a towel from her pack and wrapped it around him as she pulled him out. His hair was still a little wet, but it would air dry.

Kagome then pulled a pair of pajamas from her pack. It was little and mini. Yes, it was hers, but she only wore it in extreme clothing emergencies. It fit Shippo perfectly. It was a dull blue almost gray. It matched her eyes perfectly. They were shorts and a belly shirt, but on Shippo it looked like a pair of pants and a T-shirt.

Hiei and Kurama watched the whole thing. She was perfect for the mothering role, they both thought.

'_Okay I've decided!'_ Youko spoke up in Kurama's mind.

'_Decided what?' _Kurama asked in sheer curiousity.

'_We shall make her our mate. She's strong, pretty, and from what we know, kind.'_

'_No__,__ Youko. We will leave her be. I will admit I would love to pursue her as well, but she deserves better than the complications she would have by being with us. Besides If we had any relationship with her other than friendship my fan club would go into a complete frenzy and try to hurt her, or get her to never see us again. And they can be quite a force to reckon with.'_

'_Fine. But we can still enjoy eye candy. A nice piece of eye candy.' _he purred.

'_Yes__,__ Youko__,__ we can still enjoy eye candy.'_

They would admit that Kagome was pretty. But they wouldn't allow themselves to fall for her romantically. If anything they looked at her as a younger sister, being that she took in a kit that they knew wasn't hers. It made them want to claim her as pack, which would place her as sister or cousin anyways. Even if they only knew her for a couple of hours they were already connected to her in some way, and they didn't care, not one bit.

'_What is this onna doing to me? I am the forbidden child, destined for no love, and certainly no mate. I want answers and I want them now... but I think I can wait until the child is out of the way. I'm not a completely heartless bastard__..__. Although she could stop moving her hips like that. It's as though she's trying to hypnotize me or put me under a spell__.__'_

Hiei thought to himself. He did not and would not tell anyone else but himself. He did enjoy dressing her even if he did so at extreme speeds.

Kagome turned to see Kirara on Kurama's shoulder with a bandage around her shoulder. Then she looked at both boys and saw them in a daze staring at her. It was a bit unnerving, but she was use to it. So she tossed the matter over her shoulder and went back to the task at hand. She let the tub drain then went on to clean it. Shippo left a few chocolate hand and foot prints as well as smudges on the sides of the tub. She went on scrubbing all the chocolate off the tub until it was nice and shiny. It would be rude to take advantage of their hospitality and show disrespect by leaving a mess. Shippo sat on her shoulder while she was doing this.

After she finished she took out a pack of crayons and some paper out of her pack for the kit. He smiled at her, then hugged her and told her that he was going to draw her pictures to cheer her up, and ran off to Kurama's bedroom.

She stood up with a sad smile on her face. She had completely forgotten that the boys were there. "My little kit… so naïve and full of innocent joy… thinking he can change past events with pictures." she whispered with a lone tear coming down her face. Only this time it was blue, just like her miko powers. She wiped at away before it even had a chance to fall.

Hiei was confused at why she would be saddened at the fact that Shippo was full of joy, unless she was jealous. He wanted to walk over to and offer her some comfort. Of course he wouldn't do that for the fact his pride wouldn't allow it. When she returned to Earth and was aware of her surroundings she sighed and turned her head grabbing her left arm in a self conscious manner. Now would be the best time to confess to them what they just got themselves into.

First things first, have everybody in one room. She looked up at them. "I think I have some explaining to do. Please get everyone in one room so I don't have to repeat myself... I don't think I could take it." she said.

Kurama nodded with sympathy knowing her story would be hard to tell if what had occurred was anything to go by. This was the best time to take her to Koenma's so she could explain everything. "We should go see Koenma then. Don't worry nothing bad will happen, I assure you. We wish to help you in any way we can." he said with a smile. She just nodded, with a small smile of her own. Hiei left to get Yusuke, so he could contact Botan.

They were all in Kurama's room waiting for Botan to arrive. Shippo had a feeling of what was happening and decided to wait to draw other pictures for Kagome. So he was in her arms while she ran her fingers through his hair. It was a soothing motion that caused him to relax. Kagome was bringing everything but kept her bow and arrows close at hand, just in case. No one objected, they all knew she was a little nervous and would fight for her and her son's life.

After waiting a few minutes a girl with blue hair, identified as Botan, came through a portal that appeared from mid-air. Kagome stood perfectly still having dealt with these kinds of things before. Shippo though yipped when she came. He wasn't paying attention having relaxed from Kagome's ministrations, so it was expected.

"Hello boys!" Botan greeted cheerfully. "What made you decide to come see Koenma on your own?" she asked, her voice as cheerful as ever.

Kagome waved a little with a small smile to get her attention. Botan looked over and gapped. She was astonished. "Kagome? _The_ Kagome Higurashi? It is an honor to meet you!" she said and bowed. The guys were totally confused now. Kuwabara was beyond baffled. "We should go now. I wouldn't like to keep you waiting." Botan said with respect to Kagome. Kagome blushed a bit wondering why the blue haired girl known as Botan made a big fuss over her.

Botan opened a portal for them and they went in by twos; Kurama and Hiei, Kuwabara and Yusuke, and last but not least Kagome and Shippo. Botan just transported herself into Koenma's office by her own means.

When they were all there Koenma was stamping papers and didn't notice them come in... until Botan arrived.

"Koenma sir Kagome-sama is here. And she brought a young kitsune youkai friend. A little cutie if you had to ask me." she said.

"Son." Kagome and Shippo corrected at the same time.

Botan looked at them with wide eyes. "H-He's your Son?" she said in a high pitch voice. Kagome nodded with a real smile. "Yes he is. He's my kit." she gloated, raising her chin a bit. Botan smiled at the motherly pride that seemed to glow off of her.

"Well then who's the father?" Botan asked curious. Kagome's smile went down a bit. "I… adopted him. His parents died. And his father was a kind person, even if I did only meet his pelt. He used fox fire to protect us when we were attacked during a battle against the Thunder Brothers. I never met his mother."

"And after a while their younger sister, Souten decided she wanted revenge. She's smart for a little girl her age, I must admit. But Shippo here had her agree to never think of revenge again and forfeited a battle they were having after he found out she was a girl. As a prize he had to give up his crayons. They love to draw." she said.

Koenma was listening and gapped along with Botan. "You m-met the Thunder Bothers? But they've been dead for five hundred years!" Koenma said. "They died at the hands of Inuyasha and his 'wench'." he said with air quotes. "I am NOT his _wench_! Inuyasha is a traitor! What_ is_ it with you men and thinking that I am his _wench!_? I, Kagome Higurashi, belong to _no_ one!" she screamed in a deadly tone that had Koenma shaking. She turned and huffed.

Now all the guys were waiting for an explanation. How would she be 500 years old if she felt human and looked to still be in her teen years?

"Kagome-sama I am so sorry, I meant no disrespect. But how old are you?" Koenma asked cautiously.

"18... why?" she asked.

"How do you know Inuyasha?"

"He _was_ a friend. A dear, _dear_ friend, who _promised_ to _protect_ me no matter what... and he broke that promise… so I had to break mine." she said with her bangs over her eyes.

"How did you meet him?"

"I fell through a well on my family's shrine to 500 years in the past. Mistress centipede dragged me down. _He_ was the first person I met not trying to kill me, he couldn't because he was bound to a tree at the time, but still he was alive. He tried when I released him though" she murmured the last part. "Then I met Kaede and the villagers. After that I met more youkai. Shippo was the", she counted her fingers," eighth one. The seventh was none other than Sesshoumaru, Lord of the Western lands and half brother to Inuyasha." she said.

Koenma and Botan were wide-eyed at the fact that Kagome met Sesshoumaru and lived to tell the tale.

"I suppose you want to know all that happened there. Am I correct?" she asked. All she got were nods to answer her question. She took a deep breath and told them all of what happened to her there, from the very beginning.

"Then after leaving to go find him, I ran in on him with Kikyo, again. And he was going to kill me for the rest of _her_ soul. Then of course I ran... When I made it back to camp they told me to run knowing he'd be beyond control since he didn't have Tetseiga at his side and transformed, and they told me that they loved me, so they sacrificed themselves for me... they died for me by _his_ hand. I heard their screams as they died. They died because of me... everybody dies because of me. I'm nothing but a cheap reincarnation who does nothing but cause trouble. A stupid reincarnation that tries to fix her mistake... a horrible, _horrible _mistake." she said, with depression and sorrow dripping off her voice as she finished her tale.

"That's not true." Botan said.

"Yes it is. If it weren't for me Shippo's father would still be alive! If it weren't for me Koga's pack would have never been killed! If it weren't for me a lot of innocent villagers wouldn't be dead right now! If it weren't for me the tajiyas wouldn't be extinct!" she said as blue tears fell from her eyes. To say everybody was shocked was an understatement. It was a wonder they didn't fall into a comatose state. 'Why are her tears blue?' was going through everybody's head.

They were all giving her sympathy for the burden on her shoulders, with all the deaths being caused by a simple mistake due to her and the jewel and all the promises she thought she had broken, when in truth she didn't break any. They were all surprised that she lived through all that, and didn't have a whole soul. Nobody knew what to say.

"It's okay Okaa-san. If that didn't happen I wouldn't have you. I love you. So don't ever leave me. Okay?" Shippo said as he nuzzled her.

Two more blue tears fell from her eyes as she nodded and allowed a sad smile to grace her lips. "Okay Shippo. I won't ever leave you. I promise." she said, as she hugged him. Kirara mewed in agreement. "I promise you too Kirara." Kagome said and gently scratched under Kirara's chin.

"Well is the jewel whole enough to keep Naraku at bay?" Koenma asked.

Kagome blushed and shook her head. She reached inside the shirt she was wearing and pulled out a broken pink jewel. It glimmered innocently off the chain showing half was missing "I am guardian of these souls. I have to finish my quest to make it whole again." she said with determination.

Everybody was in awe to her sense of duty. "Okay then I will send them to help you." Koenma said.

Yusuke and Kuwabara doubled back with disbelieving looks. "We have to what!?" Yusuke shouted, his disbelief coloring his voice. "You heard me! Now off you go. Good luck." he said. And then they fell through a portal to Kagome's room. Kagome landed on her bed as well as Hiei and Kurama. Yusuke and Kuwabara landed on the floor with a loud thud.

About a minute after Souta opened the door. "Sis you're home! Mom, Kagome's back!" He shouted with joy and tackled his sister. "We missed you Nee-chan. You were gone longer than usual. Mom's making oden tonight for dinner too!" he said cheerfully. Kagome smiled at her younger brother's antics.

"Okay. Now off, I have things to do you know." she said in a pretend motherly voice and pushed him off only to have Buyo climb on her. She groaned. "Missed you too boys. Now off, you're heavy." she said. Souta started to pout and Buyo looked up innocently. "No. Now out." she said.

"Fine. But I'm telling mom that there are a bunch of boys in your room without her knowing." Souta said and ran with Kagome tailing him out her room. "Why you little- When I get my hands on you you'll be missing something very important to a man!" she threatened. The guys just watched with amusement.

**End Chapter**


	3. Looking Back

**+ Looking Back +**

Kagome sighed leaning heavily against her bedroom door. She was still wearing Kurama's pajamas. Everything was_ not_ how she expected it to be; it was all confusing, embarrassing, and upsetting. She thought her adventure would be the best thing in the world after she had gotten accustomed to it... but then again this was reality, not some fantasy that held all the answers to her problems. No it had to be reality… with more boys. Not girls who understood her or would have an inkling as to how her mind worked, but boys who were always complaining about something; who always expected her to know the answers to every thing.

Kagome looked at the boys in her room with mild annoyance, then to the bathroom attached to her room, to her dresser. She knew what she wanted right now and damn it she was going to have it no matter if they approved or not. Besides she needed something to relax her pains and ease her sorrow.

"I'm taking a _nice hot bath_. Shippo learn things about our new friends will you? We need to know who we're traveling with." She said as she walked over to her dresser quickly pulling out underwear, a bra, and a pair of white socks. After hiding her chosen items she went to her closet and pulled out a pair of dark blue jeans and a black shirt that said 'Bite Me' on it with hot pink letters hidden in the corner from the rest of her cheery clothes. Then she walked over to her desk and took a box of matches from one of the pencil holders. After, she walked straight to the bathroom. The guys just stared at her figure not knowing what to say.

"What's she gonna need the matches for?" Kuwabara spoke. Everybody looked at him, they all thought he had lost his voice at some time or went mute. In truth he was being respectful. He knew somehow that she wanted some quiet. But the box of matches caught him off guard, she didn't seem like a smoker to him. They all wanted to know that as well. Why would Kagome need matches if she was going to take a bath?

Then Souta walked in and sat on the chair by the desk looking at them. His face was sad and melancholy, something that didn't belong on his face. "She's gonna need them to light scented candles and incense. They calm her down… Plus she thinks they look pretty." He answered with a shrug.

They nodded, even Hiei. He wouldn't tell anyone but he had a little soft spot for kids who were kind and caring, unlike trouble makers, they reminded him of Yukina. Then Souta looked at the end of Kagome's bed. He sighed. She forgot to grab her towel. She was going to make a fool of herself if he didn't do anything.

He got up, got the towel, and walked to the bathroom door. He knocked twice paused the knocked once more. Then the door opened and Kagome took the towel with a thanks. She was still fully clothed and there were no scents of any kind, other than Kagome, hot water, and the smell of marble. Kagome then closed the door from their prying eyes.

Kagome took the towel and turned around, she didn't bother turning on the lights. The tub was filled with nice hot water. The young miko smiled a bit to herself. She took a bottle that had herbs and such for pains in the form of liquid and poured it into the bath water. She approved of the scent it had and it did miracles to her body. Then she took off the shirt. One by one the buttons came undone, from top to bottom. Then she pulled off the pants and her underwear. She was still a little flustered at the thought of a male changing her and her ending up with no bra. True to their word they had tended to her wounds. Her back was injured so her midsection, back, and left shoulder were covered in ace bandages. She took them off carefully noting that they bandaged her with care. She also noticed that the bandages were securely in place with how they were put on.

After she took them off she was completely naked. She caught the scent of healing herbs coming from her back and in the bandages. She sighed and healed her back. She didn't like the feel of bandages so she healed her wounds as soon as possible, a trick she learned from Kaede.

When that was done she took the matches and lit lavender scented candles and sage incense. Together the scents sent her into relaxation faster. They were placed on the corners of the sink and at the corners of the tub. The light they produced made a beautiful scene. She then placed herself in the warm water that made her muscles lose their tension, glad to have a western bathroom all to herself. She was in heaven, for the time being. She knew it wouldn't last long. So she told herself after half an hour had passed she would get out, besides the water would start to cool down by then. Until then she would relax. She noticed that they had not bathed her, but wiped her down.

She could tell they had washed dirt away from her face, throat, and back with a wet wash cloth to make her a little clean. She thanked them for that. She would have done the same thing if she was taking care of them. It made her feel more at ease knowing they did what she would have done, being clean made her feel calm, which was critical to healing. And that's what she needed right now, to be calm.

She grabbed some body wash and started to scrub herself until she felt clean. Seeing Kikyo and Inuyasha kissing made her feel unwanted, useless, in the way, uncared for, unloved, and most of all dirty. She felt the weight of the world on her shoulders and it was starting to get to her.

Shippo was asking them questions which Kurama and Yusuke were answering. Kuwabara was busy playing with Buyo and Kirara and Hiei was... being Hiei. Shippo learned a lot in his opinion. After hearing that Kurama was also a kitsune youkai, a silver kitsune youkai, he quickly became attached to him. He asked him if he would train him with his powers and skills. Kurama said as long as Kagome approved, then yes. He asked about many other things which were answered honestly. After about 20 minutes Shippo felt that he knew enough about them and stopped questioning them. A few moments later of silence he asked them where babies come from.

When they asked why he wanted to know he said he wanted a sibling. They said that he would have to ask Kagome about that. He told them that whenever he asked her for a younger sibling she said in time. They just smiled and chuckled at him.

'_Don't tell him!'_ Youko shouted to his counterpart.

'_I know.'_ Was the calm response given to the silver kitsune.

'_You were about to.' _The fox hedged.

'_I wanted to know why.'_ Replied Kurama explained softly.

'_Now you know. Now shut up and wait for the girl to come out and save us from this disaster__.__'_

Kurama sighed. This was truly complicating, even for him. It saddened him at the thought Kagome felt the weight of the world on her shoulders, and in a way it was.

Then something caught his eye. It was a book with a green velvet cover. He picked it up and opened it to discover it was a scrapbook. The others saw him do this and were curious as well. They leaned over his shoulder or hovered over the book to get a better look. The first two pictures were of a group; a tajiya, a monk, Shippo, Kagome, Kirara, and the inu hanyou Inuyasha. All of them had smiles, except for Inuyasha who was sulking. Kagome's smile was the biggest and the brightest. She was wearing her sailor school uniform. The tajiya was wearing the traditional tajiya suit; the monk, purple robes; Shippo, what he always wears; and Inuyasha was wearing all red as usual.

"Hey! That's us!" Shippo exclaimed.

Kurama turned the page curious at what else was in the book. It was a picture of the monk and tajiya. The monk's right hand was somewhere behind the tajiya. The next three were also of the tajiya and monk. The second was the tajiya with a red face and hairs standing on ends the monk was still smiling like nothing was happening. The third was the tajiya fuming and the monk with a red hand print on his face on the floor with a dreamy smile plastered on his face, eyes closed. The fourth was the tajiya huffing with a red face and the monk rubbing his red cheek.

"That's Miroku and Sango. He never learned, always the pervert. But they loved each other no matter what Sango said. It was just too obvious." Shippo said shaking his head side to side with glassy eyes.

Just then Kagome came out. Her cheeks held a bit flushed from the heat. Kurama quickly hid the book and Shippo blinked until his eyes were back to normal. They all looked at her. Hiei thought her flushed cheeks made her look cute. She smiled. "Come on guys I think my mom is almost done cooking. And don't get too close to my grandfather, unless you want to have glue in your hair and or on your face." she said in a warning tone.

She picked up Shippo and walked out her room with the guys following. Kagome's mom smiled at them; "Dinner will be right out." she told them. All but Hiei smiled back. Kagome looked at Hiei with curiosity. _'If I didn't know better I'd say he was related to Sesshoumaru or at least took lessons on how to be emotionless.'_

They were all quickly seated. Kagome and her mother sat next to jii-chan, Shippo and the other youkai sat as far away as possible from the old man, including Kurama, Souta ended up sitting next to Yusuke, who sat next to Kuwabara.

"So Jii-chan what lame brain diseases did you come up with?" Kagome asked, getting the old man's attention from glaring at the youkai.

His face turned into a prideful smile when she asked him despite her cynicism. "Well I have been reading. So I figured I could tell everyone you all could have caught the lime disease and the bleeder's disease shortly after." he said with his chin up high.

"That's the best most non embarrassing disease you've come up with!" Kagome said in amazement. Kagome's mom smiled.

"I had to help him and I know you are still recovering from embarrassment with the last illness your grandfather came up with." she said.

Kagome had a light blush and could only nod. She was speechless so she decided to stop with the chatter and eat before her favorite food got cold. Everybody followed suite and ate quietly. It was a peaceful dinner, except for when Jii-chan sent the youkai a wary glare.

After dinner the Kagome and the boys went to her room since they didn't know where else to go in her house.

"We will leave for the feudal era tomorrow morning. Get what you need because we'll be there for a while. So call your parents and tell them that you won't be home for a couple of months. Tell them the truth or an excuse, whichever you prefer." Kagome told them. All but Hiei nodded in understanding. He was too busy staring at her pink lips, not hearing a word she said. He was fantasizing on kissing her, tasting her, and making her feel better in so many ways; of course nobody noticed.

Hiei's fantasy of kissing her brought his member to attention wanting physical contact instead of a cheap fantasy. Lucky him he was wearing baggy pants and a cloak, otherwise they would have seen a big tent forming.

Hiei mentally sighed; he knew it was too good to ever come true. But if she was going to wear such skimpy cloths on their mission like he saw in scrapbook there was going to be a lot of sexual tension in the air. She was torturing him with her body without even knowing it.

Shippo thought this'd be the perfect time to ask Kagome if Kurama could train him.

He looked at her with wide innocent eyes, making him very cute. "Okaa-san you know I love you right?" Shippo asked innocently. Kagome nodded, "Of course." she replied.

"Then could Kurama train me? ... Please?" Shippo begged. Kagome looked at him with loving calculating eyes then to Kurama with warning in her eyes. "Only if it's to make you stronger and not the training Miroku was talking about." she said sternly. Shippo beamed the looked at Kurama with his smile. Kurama smiled back, he was looking forward to see what the kit could do, as well as wondering what kind of training Miroku was trying to get the kit into.

Kagome looked at Kurama with a stern look and nodded. Protectiveness was evident in her eyes. Kurama only gave her an innocent smile. "Foxes." she muttered under her breath. Hiei heard this and chuckled lightly, so lightly only Kurama and Shippo heard him.

Tomorrow was the day they leave.

Kurama, Yusuke, and Kuwabara made phone calls to their respective homes. Kurama told his mother that he was camping with some friends for a school project. Yusuke also told his mother this and he Keiko bluntly that he had a mission. Kuwabara called his sister and told her he had another mission and was going to be in the past for a couple months.

Their families approved and told them to have fun and be safe or in Kuwabara's case whatever just be safe and don't destroy the time stream. Hiei still hadn't told Yukina he was her brother therefore didn't tell her he was leaving.

After such they all went to sleep in Kagome's room. Kagome resting on her bed with Shippo and the boys cramped up on the floor. Hiei though decided he would sleep in the tree outside of Kagome's window.

They all were ready to go. Kagome was just going over the things she had making sure she didn't have to come back anytime soon. She was still depressed that Inuyasha betrayed her, but forced herself to be cheery for her new companions and son. She didn't want them to worry over her. However it was evident in her eyes, so they avoided the subject.

Kagome was wearing a navy blue skirt that stopped mid-thigh, a pearl white T-shirt with a design in navy blue of a dragon. She hid all of her old sailor uniforms deep in her closet, they reminded her too much of Inuyasha at the moment.

Once Kagome was sure she had everything she was telling them what they had to do to get to the other side.

"You have to stay in physical contact with me otherwise either the well won't work or you could get stuck in the time stream... and I doubt you want to be in some random time period. Of course I've never done this, so the outcome is still a mystery. But we don't want to find out, so don't let go no matter what. Okay?" she spoke. They nodded. Then Kagome suggested they hold hands when she jumps. There were a few disagreements but it happened anyway.

Kagome held Hiei and Yusuke's hand, Yusuke held Kurama's hand, who held Kuwabara's hand, Hiei held Shippo's hand while he held Kirara.

They jumped and squeezed into the well on the count of three.

Just when they were about to land on the bottom of the well the ancient blue magic surrounded them. It felt like they were floating in space with wind surrounding them. They were amazed at what they saw, not only did it feel like they were in space, it looked like it too.

Kagome's hair was whipping and flying behind her making her look like a wind goddess with how serene she looked traveling the time stream. Hiei couldn't help but stare. She was enchanting him with her calm beauty, and her skirt was going up as well.

When the hit ground the light disappeared and the sunlight came down on them. Kagome smiled and walked to the vines on the inside of the wall pulling herself and her bag up. She totally forgot about the guys at the bottom. They were staring at her, mostly up her skirt staring at her navy blue underwear that tied at the sides.

When she reached the top she swung her leg over the ledge, giving the guys a nice view from bellow. All but Shippo and Kirara were blushing. Hiei's face was as red as Kurama's hair.

'_Hn. There's going to be a lot of sexual tension on this mission.' _Hiei thought to himself.

**End Chapter**


	4. A Look at One's Past

**A Look at One's past**

They were standing around the well now. Kagome was allowing them to look at their surroundings, and waiting for Kuwabara to catch his breath, after finally getting out of the well on his 18th attempt. She was tense though, this forest _belonged_ to Inuyasha. It was no longer safe by any means. It also held some painful memories which overrode the good ones.

Many things happened to her in this forest. Where she first came out the well, where she found out about the Shikon no Tama, and where she met... him. The forest was once her haven, now a hell hole. Sure the beauty was still there, but the safe feeling wasn't, even if the God tree was still there for her. _'Actually come to think of it, the God tree seems to be the only thing that's still the same. Everything else seems... off.'_

Kurama took the short break to study Kagome a bit more. Even if she told them of her past she didn't tell them anything about her, except for the fact that she once loved the hanyou. He could see her tense from being in the forest, he just couldn't see why. She looked paranoid too. It was just a forest, wasn't it?

Kuwabara caught his breath after 2 minutes, but to Kagome it seemed longer than that. Shippo clung to Kagome's ankle and Kirara was looking back and forth on high alert, just incase. Once he caught his breath Kagome said "Follow me.", and left not a second later.

Her pace was fast. She wanted to get out of Inuyasha's Forest as soon as possible. The boys were following her step for step. Yusuke was going to complain about her pace but decided against it. He felt it would make him look lazy and out of shape.

After a good 15 minutes they were out of the forest and on the outskirts of Keade's village. Kagome went straight for the hut in search of Keade. She needed to know Inuyasha didn't kill her. She needed to know the elder miko that'd become family wasn't hurt.

They found her in the fields picking weeds. Kagome let out a sigh of relief. "Keade! You're all right. I'm glad." Kagome said to the old miko. Keade looked at her and smiled. "Aye, I'm doing fine child. And I see ye have brought new friends. I am sorry for Houshi-sama and Sango-sama though. I have said my prayers." she said sadly. Kagome nodded in agreement.

She knew how Keade felt. The old woman was like their grandmother. They were one family. Kagome was the first grandchild then Inuyasha and so forth. Shippo was her great grandchild. They didn't have to be related by blood, but how that's just how close they were to each other. To them they truly lost family. Kagome hugged the old woman in a means for comfort.

When she let go the old woman looked her in the eye and smiled. "Have a safe journey child." was all that she said before she turned away and set back to work. Kagome let a soft smile grace her face and turned to leave the boys in tow.

!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!

"Can we stop now!? My feet are killing me!" Yusuke whined. They were walking for 8 hours now and Yusuke was very irritable. Kagome looked just looked at him.

"Would you like some cheese to go with that whine?" Kagome asked in a British accent, with a smirk placed on her face. Kuwabara fell over laughing, Kurama hid his smile behind his had, and Hiei smirked at the detective's predicament. Yusuke glared at her, although it wasn't intimidating with the blush on his face. So he just stuck his tongue out at her and turned around.

"Oh yes, very mature Yusuke. I could've mistaken you for middle-aged if it weren't for your looks." she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She could imagine Yusuke pouting like a little kid with his back turned, he turned around and that's just what he was doing; pouting. Kagome smiled then right out laughed along with Kuwabara. Only she lost her balance and fell over landing on the ground still laughing.

When she caught her breath she grinned and looked at Yusuke. "Yes we can take a little break, ." Yusuke just sat down where he stood while glaring half heartedly at Kagome.

She smiled from ear to ear, the guys froze staring at her. That was the first real smile they saw in person, one that wasn't forced for the sake of others. Kurama almost gasped, the beauty of it caught him off guard.

'_Good Kami, Red! She's gorgeous!' _Youko shouted to his counterpart.

'_I agree Youko. She is beautiful.__'_

'Beautiful_!? She's _beyond_ beautiful! She looks like a goddess!'_

'_. . .__'_

Kagome blushed lightly then went to her pack and took out lunch. She was sure they were hungry. She looked at Hiei as if asking if he wanted any out of courtesy. He understood and nodded. She went back to making lunch.

~! Five Minutes Later !~

Kagome handed everyone their lunch and sat down to eat her own. Hiei grabbed his and left to eat in a tree away from everyone, being that he wasn't very social.

Yusuke and Kuwabara were racing to see who could eat their food fastest; while Shippo was eating and watching, a little disturbed that someone could eat that fast, but watching them with interest all the same. Kagome stared while feeding herself slowly; they were an odd bunch... who apparently had no table manners.

Kurama was a bit ashamed that the two slobs were his team mates and somewhat best friends. His face grew red and he lowered his head, bangs covering his face while he shook his head in disappointment.

Hiei just stared at them with indifference. To him it was a very sad sight, and the fact that he lost a fight to a slob made him feel a bit ashamed. But he was sure to himself that if they had the rematch he wanted he would win with his Dark Dragon; pride welled up in his chest at the fact he could now handle the dragon unlike a few years earlier. He also learned how to control some of his ice powers. That was a big thing for him since his fire side is more dominant.

Kagome stared at Hiei... he confused her. She noticed Shippo hadn't gathered much information on him, so he was a mystery to her. She knew the basics; like his name and what weapon he mastered in, nothing else. She could feel his demonic power, but it was confusing... ice and fire... not a likely pair. It was swirling back and forth battling for dominance, yet at the same time not trying to kill the other. It was starting to give her a migraine. Come to think of it, she just wanted to relax some more.

"Is there a hot spring anywhere near here?" she asked more to herself, but it was still heard.

Kurama looked at her. And for the first time he saw that their traveling was wearing her out more than everybody. He had smelled a hot spring about a good ten minutes walk from their location to the west.

"Yes, actually we should come across in about ten minutes it if we head west and keep up a good pace." he said softly.

At this news Kagome's eyes lit up. She looked at the guys hoping they wouldn't mind stopping for another pit stop.

The guys all nodded allowing her this treat, besides it would mean another break for them.

She grinned at this. _'Yay! A nice hot bath... but there won't be anyone els__e to go with me... I miss Sango… I could use another female companion. Sure she'd never fill Sango's place, but at least I'd have someone to talk to...'_

After the moment's thoughts her grin fell and she became saddened again. It was rolling off her in waves. But she wouldn't allow herself to cry until she made it to the spring... she could mourn in peace there. Never would she allow Shippo to see her in such a weak state again. She needed to be strong for him.

Kagome forced a smile, but unlike her other ones this one wasn't cheesy. It could've been mistaken for a real one, unless you looked into her eyes and knew exactly what you were looking for. Although she wasn't fooling herself, she fooled the ones around her, except Kurama and Hiei. They were the only ones who caught on, but didn't say anything.

~10 minutes later~

"Finally." Kagome sighed.

She looked over her shoulder with an annoyed look. That was all the guys needed to take a hint and turn around, although Shippo stayed. She looked at Shippo sending him a message without words and he nodded. He was to watch they guys and give her a sign in case they decided to peak. She had a feeling they wouldn't, but it was just a precaution. One couldn't be too safe around those she didn't know well.

Before Shippo left he looked at her with painful sympathy in his eyes. He knew she was deprived of company and wanted to spend time alone to mourn properly. He sighed and ran to catch up with Kurama. Kirara mewed, bringing Kagome's attention to her. Kirara tilted her head as in to ask who she should go with. Kagome smiled at the fire neko.

"Go with them and keep an eye on Shippo for me will ya?" She asked knowing Kirara would do it anyways.

Kirara mewed with happiness and ran to catch up with the little kitsune.

Kagome smiled sadly when the neko was out of sight. After she was sure they had successfully made camp Kagome went toward the hot spring with all of the essentials. When she got there she stripped quickly, tossed some water onto her body, and then eased her aching body into the naturally heated water.

Again she sighed, she seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

Kagome's whole body ached. She felt as though she deserved a little bit of relaxation. After all they had walked a great distance today; the guys just ate so they shouldn't be hungry anytime soon. With that in mind she decided to stay a while.

She seeped deeper into the water until she was neck deep. Her thoughts drifted to the fact she was alone; the only female, besides Kirara who didn't really count, in this odd little group. How she missed Sango...

~Meanwhile with the boys~

Once Kurama was sure Kagome wasn't going to be back for a while he grabbed his backpack and pulled out the scrapbook he found in Kagome's room. He was quite curious as to what Kagome kept in it. She was a bit... unusual. If he was to spend time with her he wanted to learn more about her. She was a big puzzle to the kitsune avatar, and everyone knew he loved puzzles.

When Hiei saw Kurama had the scrapbook his curiosity called out to him and he couldn't resist looking through it as well. After all Kagome had caught his attention like no other. So in a flash he was looking at it over Kurama's shoulder.

Apparently Kurama stumbled upon more pictures of Kagome's old friends, and her old self. In one picture it had Kagome tweaking on Inuyasha's ears with a big happy grin, while Inuyasha was sulking but his eyes were that of joy. Another had her and Shippo making flower necklaces and tiaras, both of them looking overjoyed. In every picture they saw Kagome had the biggest and brightest smile.

Just then when Kurama was turning a page some things fell out. Hiei picked them up with the utmost of care, almost as though it would turn to ash with the littlest of force.

They noticed that one of the items that had fallen was a note.

That got their attention the most, a note in a scrapbook. They looked at each other through a side glance then back at the folded note.

Carefully Kurama took the note and opened it. Hiei took the time to look at the strange picture...

That's what shocked him. The picture showed Kagome looking as though she was deep in thought, yet saddened at something sitting alone in the rain, dazed. Her grayish-blue eyes were glazed over with such sadness he could feel it. It felt as though someone took his heart and put a hole through it, waited until it was infected, then proceeded to rubbed salt in his wounds without a bit of self-remorse. It hurt so much the pain was almost unbearable.

Kurama was almost in as much shock as Hiei. The note was apparently written by Kagome, and was more a loose leaf diary page, and held such sadness Kurama could've sworn his heart had faded from existence.

Kurama had to look at the paper again to make sure he had read it right.

_(The note)_

_~ It's no fair! Why do I have to be the copy of some stupid, clay, manipulative… bitch!? She's only playing him for a fool and he's putty_ _in her cold, lifeless hands... She doesn't even love him anymore! She just wants her revenge... And he's too blind to see her for what she really is. All I am to him is just a shard detector, a stupid 'wench'_ _who just gets in the way of everything... a 'copy', who can never be better than his____precious__ Kikyo_. _I would stay by his side through thick and thin if he'd just let me. Maybe_ _I should just give up... I'll never be better than her, and I'm useless in battle. I just get in the way and cause problems..._

_Maybe if I'm gone everything will be better, for everyone. Maybe I should just end it... I'd be putting everyone out of their misery of sharing my company, of breathing the same air as them. Maybe... I should just... ~_

It ended there with a bit of Kagome's blood dried up. A couple of drops were spilled on the paper, not much. It looked so wrong and deadly, innocently deceptive, yet so beautiful.

It hurt Kurama to know that a pure person such as herself felt useless and in the way... and tried to end her own life thinking it would be for the better. He was very thankful she didn't go through with it.

'_Whoever put those thoughts in Kagome's head will die a painful death by my hand__.__'_Youko growled in Kurama's mind.

Kurama agreed with Youko on this one. No one would put Kagome on the verge of killing herself and live. They would eradicate the problem with death to make sure nothing of the sort would happen again.

Hiei's thoughts ran along the same lines. Whoever made Kagome feel that way was to die a horrible painful death by his hands. They were undeserving of her love! Regardless of whom they were.

They looked at each other and switched items.

When they were done inspecting the items they were on the verge of bloodlust, their eyes were tinged with some red. Everyone at camp was wary of the two since they were hardly ever on the verge of bloodlust, Shippo more so being unfamiliar with them. Only when the ones they loved were threatened would they get as pissed, and even then they never went into bloodlust.

Shippo was so scared he hid behind Kirara, who hid behind Yusuke. They decided to leave the two alone so they could cool down. Hopefully that would be before Kagome came back from the hot spring.

~With Kagome~

While Kagome was soaking she heard a rustle in nearby bushes. She grabbed her bow just in case it was a threat or an enemy. But what came through threw Kagome off guard.

It was a beautiful youkai woman, clad in a gorgeous dark-blue silk kimono embroidered with stars of various shades and pink sakura petals. Her skin was a fairly dark tan for someone native to this part of Japan. Her hair reached her waist and was a dark purple that looked perfectly delightful on the demoness. It completed her look since she had dark sapphire eyes and rose colored lips that looked soft to the touch. Perfect triangular kitsune ears that adorned her head were tipped black as were her 9 tails.

Kagome blushed when she felt as though she was significantly nothing in compare to the demoness. When the new arrival saw Kagome she smiled a sweet smile, one telling Kagome she wasn't here to harm her. The demoness felt no threat from the little miko and could tell she didn't want to destroy her since her instincts weren't warning her of a threat. She could tell this miko wasn't one to harbor ill-will to the youkai race unless threatened. And with that in mind she felt the same way; she wouldn't harm the miko unless she was harmed first.

"Hello Miko-sama. I hope you wouldn't mind me taking a bath with you." she said, her voice could be mistaken for one of an angel.

Kagome blushed and shook her head; her face was that of shock and disbelief. "Not at all, there's room to spare." she replied with a smile of her own, the blush still on her face.

The demoness grinned and turned around to get undressed. Kagome stared with curiosity.

When she was done undressing, she walked straight into the water with god-like grace. Kagome blushed feeling a bit ashamed of her own body and lack of grace. The demoness's lips formed a sad knowing smile, already knowing why the miko felt as she did.

"Don't be ashamed of your body Miko-sama. It is also one of pure beauty." she said in hopes of making the miko feel better about herself.

Kagome smiled with thanks.

"Please don't call me 'Miko-sama', my name is Kagome. It's a pleasure to meet you." Kagome said with a slight bow.

"The pleasure is all mine, Kagome-sama. My name is Arashi." introduced the youkai known as Arashi, with the same respect.

Kagome smiled with how friendly Arashi was being. Maybe she would be Kagome's new friend. And hopefully she wasn't doing this just to get the Shikon jewel shards. She knew Arashi knew she had them, every demon did.

Arashi was beginning to feel weird with the silence.

"So, what brings you to these parts of the forest, Kagome-sama?" Arashi asked.

Kagome almost flinched at the question, and Arashi noticed.

"I'm sorry I shouldn't have asked; it's none of my business." she said quickly with her ears slightly down in shame.

Kagome giggled softly at Arashi's actions. "No, no. It's alright. I'm here to look for Shikon jewel shards." she answered.

Arashi brought her head up and looked into Kagome's tormented eyes, watching as she fingered the broken jewel around her neck.

"What for? You don't need the cursed jewel to be strong you know." Arashi said with an eye brow raised.

Kagome smiled and nodded, now sure that the new female wasn't after the jewel.

"I know. I just have to fix what I broke... I'm the guardian of the Shikon no Tama." Kagome admitted.

Arashi stared at the miko in across from her, her mouth slightly ajar. She was talking to the one and only guardian of the Shikon no Tama. She had imagined the guardian to be a miko who would destroy any demon, whether they be of good intention or not; not a miko who was pure and kind, like the woman in front of her. Yet it seemed fitting, a pure person to keep something as vile as the Shikon pure.

'_She must have a great deal of power.__'_ Were the whispered thoughts of the kitsune.

Kagome blushed. She didn't think the news would be that much of a shocker.

"I can see why Kagome-sama. You're pure... more pure than any other miko I've ever met. It is… an honor meeting you." Arashi said holding an air of wisdom, as she stood up and bowed not lifting her head feeling as though she was undeserving of looking at the Shikon's guardian.

Kagome gasped. "Oh no, no, no! You don't have to bow, Arashi-san. We are equals." she said standing up and lifting Arashi up so as she was standing full height. Surprisingly to Kagome, Arashi was the same height as her, excluding her ears.

Arashi stared at Kagome with admiration. She didn't realize she was so beautiful… and so irresistible at a close distance.

**(Warning yuri- lime ahead)**

"Thank you, Kagome-sama." she said a bit dazed. For some reason Arashi couldn't help but feel attracted to Kagome, even if she was female she was still a kitsune, gender didn't matter.

Kagome blushed more; she knew the sensation happening with her body very well. She was being turned on by Arashi and Arashi could smell it. When the scent reached her nose she smiled sexily and put her arms around Kagome's waist. When Kagome felt Arashi's hands on her body she couldn't help but move closer for more skin on skin. Then she wrapped her arms around Arashi's neck.

When Arashi had felt Kagome move closer to her she took that as a sign to go further. So she softly moved her hands from Kagome's waist to her hip. At this Kagome softly moaned her pleasure and blushed more, this was her first time, and Arashi could tell. Arashi swelled up with pride knowing she could do this to Kagome.

Kagome looked up at Arashi, her eyes full of trust. The youkai smiled at the miko and leaned in, intent on making Kagome's first time pleasurable. Of course she would leave the miko's maiden barrier intact should she ever wish to acquire a mate.

When they were but 3 centimeters apart Arashi moved Kagome's hips to her own making Kagome grind into her. Kagome moaned loudly, aroused at the erotic promise. At that moment Arashi kissed Kagome with a passion that left Kagome a jumble of nerves, leaving Arashi dominant. She swept her tongue into the miko's sweet cavern, tasting her. The youkai moaned in the miko's mouth when the miko responded.

After three minutes of non-stop tongue action Arashi pulled back. Kagome looked at her confused as to why she stopped. Arashi smirked showing a pearly white fang which only turned Kagome on more.

Arashi could feel Kagome's essence starting to drip from her core onto her legs. She purred sexily as she placed butterfly kisses on Kagome's neck moving down to her full breasts. When she reached her destination she nibbled lightly on one of the rosy buds, rolling it with her tongue and playing with the other with one hand. Kagome was holding on to Arashi's back, the only thing keeping her up besides Arashi's hand. Then she ground into the demoness giving her such pleasure, making her feel incredible, wanting more.

The demoness growled lightly, a sign of approval. Then she let go of Kagome's nipple and treaded down further south. When she reached the miko's core she was assaulted with Kagome's heady wanton scent. It turned her on to no end. She couldn't wait to taste the powerful miko in her hands.

Arashi flicked the little nub hiding under its hood with her tongue, teasing it, making Kagome wither in pleasure and whimpering for more. But she continued teasing the miko.

Kagome threw her head back and was thrashing her hips back and forth waiting for Arashi to get on with it.

"Say the magic words Kagome." Arashi said temptingly sweet.

"P-please Arashi..." she asked her voice at that of a whisper.

Those were the words Arashi was waiting for. After the 'magic' words were said Arashi thrust her tongue into Kagome, and rocked the miko's hips back and forth sliding her on her tongue. Kagome was in a sea of pleasure, moaning and panting.

"M-more." Kagome begged between pants.

Arashi was more than happy to oblige in Kagome's request. She lifted her head from her place between Kagome's legs. Then Arashi took two fingers and slid them into Kagome's waiting wet core. She also started sucking on Kagome's breasts. First her right one then her left, giving each the same treatment. Kagome gasped when she felt the two digits enter her and Arashi sucking on her, and threw her head back and groaned. She was far too lost to think any coherent thoughts and threw caution in the wind. She was also too far to care she was with a girl.

Arashi moved her fingers in and out of Kagome until she felt the miko's walls clench around her fingers signaling her release. When she felt Kagome reach her orgasm she removed her fingers and replaced them with her mouth taking in all of the miko's essence, not leaving a single drop.

Kagome watched as Arashi did this and came harder and more violently.

**(End lime)**

When Kagome finished her experience she was exhausted and brought back to reality. Everything came to her at one moment; all of what she just did and what she let happen. Her face lit up scarlet.

Arashi realized her mistake and was suddenly full of guilt.

"I'm sorry Kagome-sama... I don't know what came over me. I promise it will never happen again unless you wish it to." she whimpered and held her head down in shame.

Kagome stared at Arashi, knowing it wasn't her fault she let her instincts take control of her. She learned it was natural for kitsune to be attracted to both sexes and be sensual, enjoying intercourse with any partner, sharing energy. It was also natural for them to be attracted to beautiful things.

'_Maybe she thinks I'm beautiful...'_

Kagome understood Arashi's actions. It was out of her control. And of course Kagome being Kagome she just had to forgive her for her actions.

"It's okay Arashi-san. You don't have to apologize. I know you couldn't control yourself... and besides... I-I enjoyed myself." Kagome said, blushing like a mad woman when she admitted she enjoyed what had just transpired between them.

'_I can't say I didn't enjoy it. It felt wonderful. I wonder what it's like to be with a guy__ if being with a girl felt that good__...__ no not good… great… no… mind-blowing? I suppose… mind-blowing covers it.__'_

Arashi's ears perked up at hearing Kagome's words of truth. When Kagome admitted she wasn't angry with Arashi for her actions she slowly lifted her head, just to make sure her ears weren't playing tricks on her. What her eyes fell upon was something she did not expect. Kagome held her head down blushing shyly with a friendly smile on her face.

Arashi smiled knowing she wasn't in any trouble; or in danger of being killed.

"Now then, let's hurry and wash up. My companions must be wondering what's taking me so long." she laughed sheepishly.

Arashi looked at her with confusion wondering who the miko could be traveling with. She was curious about the miko, and naturally she could co-exist with humans. They weren't a big deal to her; they were just there, like mountains, and she was always up for an adventure.

"Kagome-sama..." she called her name softly.

Kagome looked at Arashi from washing herself.

"Hm?" she asked curious as to what Arashi could want to speak about.

"You... you wouldn't mind if I came with you on your journey would you?" Arashi asked shyly, "I wouldn't want to be a burden on you or your companions!" she quickly added.

Kagome looked at the kitsune. When she said she wanted a female she was just thinking wishful thoughts. She never thought it would happen.

'_Maybe my luck is changing... Yay! But I don't want Arashi to be troubled as well…'_

"Are you sure you wouldn't mind? We are after the vile hanyou Naraku as well..." Kagome put in, making sure this is what Arashi wanted.

Arashi's ears twitched when she heard Kagome speak of Naraku... He also ruined her life.

"Now I am sure. I wish to avenge my brother's death... well my other half brother's death." Arashi answered.

Kagome was confused.

'_What does she mean by that? Did s__he have more than one brother?'_

"I'm sorry I don't follow. You had more than one brother?" she asked.

Arashi nodded. "I had two brothers... they were both killed."

Kagome frowned at this. "I'm sorry for your loss." she said sincerely.

"Thank you... I was told that a hanyou and a miko killed the thunder brothers some time ago... apparently they avenged my brother's death. I was told that he had a son, shame I never got to meet him..." Arashi said softly.

Kagome stared at Arashi with wide eyes... She was Shippo's last family.

"Ano, Arashi... If I may..." Kagome squirmed under Arashi's gaze, " I was the one who helped kill the thunder brothers... and uh, your brother's son you mentioned... happens to be my adopted kit."

Arashi looked at Kagome in a new light. She had adopted her species worst enemy, and cared for him as though he was her own.

Arashi broke out in a full out grin. "Thank you so much Kagome-sama! I am most pleased to hear such wonderful information." she said loudly and with the utmost of sincere gratitude. She was so excited that she pulled Kagome into a sudden hug, which Kagome returned. Arashi was overjoyed that her nephew was alive and well.

Kagome laughed with merriment at Arashi's outburst of happiness.

Then she felt a tear on her shoulder and looked at Arashi making sure she was okay.

Arashi was crying tears of joy. She was sobbing her thanks to Kagome over and over again. Kagome held her with a smile and rubbed soothing circles on her back. After about 5 minutes Arashi calmed down and pulled back with a look of peace on her face while rubbing tears from her eyes. She had calmed down, but her eyes were still a little puffy and red.

The only thing she needed to do now was avenge her brother and everything would be as they should. Easier said than done, but she knew it would be accomplished.

When her little episode was done she sat back down in the heated water and quickly washed up, followed by Kagome.

It took them 15 minutes, only because Arashi was having trouble with getting dirt out of her 9 tails.

As soon as they were washed up and fully dressed they left to meet up with the boys, and Kirara.

~At camp~

During the time without Kagome, Hiei and Kurama had cooled down after much thinking and promises of death. Of course they were a little snappy, meaning Kurama ignored Yusuke and Kuwabara while Hiei ignored everyone more so than usual.

When Kagome stepped out from behind the trees all attention was on her. All the faces burst into smiles, except Hiei who just became peaceful. Kagome smiled back.

"Okay guys, I want you to meet a new friend of mine. Especially you, Shippo... because", she grinned at the kit and burst into giggles, "… because she's your aunt!"

Shippo's eye widened with shock. He had heard of his half aunt, but never met her before.

He walked slowly to Kagome's ankles and held her for support, just in case he fainted from the emotional overload he was feeling.

Kagome smiled at Shippo with warm eyes.

"Okay Arashi-san. You can come out now." Kagome called out.

And then on the dot Arashi shyly stepped out from behind the trees. All eyes were on her and Shippo fainted.

**End Chapter**


	5. Loss of a Brother

**Loss of a Brother**

Everyone, minus Kagome and Shippo, was staring at Arashi dumbstruck. The young miko had a grin plastered on her face and Shippo was unconscious from the sudden shock. Kagome giggled at this. _'Poor thing. He hadn't the slightest clue.'_

Kagome picked up Shippo's little body with care and cradled it to her chest in a motherly fashion. She smiled warmly at her adopted son, although sadness still seeped into her eyes. Tears were starting to form... and she let them fall. One blue tear after another streaked her face as she smiled down at her kit. All attention turned from Arashi to Kagome and her blue tears.

The youkai were the first to notice Kagome crying; the scent of salt reached their noses, but there was something else mixed in with scent of salt... it was the scent jasmine blossoms gave off, but at the same time it wasn't. It was unique and strange, but very pleasant. If they let it go on any longer they would try to find a way to make sure the tears were never ending. It was addictive...

Hiei was sickened by how it was affecting him. He didn't like to see her cry, but the smell was overwhelming. Luckily for him, he had more self-control than your average youkai... or hanyou for that matter.

'_Now I know why the hanyou made the onna cry though... It smells… nice.'_

Hiei was close to taking her and ravishing her body if her tears didn't stop falling from her eyes.

"Onna." was the first word that came out of his mouth, breaking the silence that had covered the camp for well over 5 minutes. Both, Arashi and Kagome, looked at him; though Arashi quickly looked back to Kagome. Kagome looked confused and broken... it hurt him to see her that way.

"Stop your tears." he flashed into a tree as soon as the words left his mouth.

Kagome blinked a few times. It was obvious that his choice of words hurt her, but she stopped crying anyways.

'_That's what Inuyasha would've told me... he also said it made me weak. Then he would have said something like, "Kikyo would've never cried. Especially for no reason! Feh. Stupid wench."...'_

As soon as she stopped crying Arashi glared at the tree Hiei hid himself in and growled to herself.

'_Bastard! How dare he hurt Kagome-sama like that! I should rip out his throat for even speaking to her like that. But… she was upset even before he said anything... I wonder what could be troubling her...'_

Arashi looked back at Kagome curiously wondering if she'd get her answer, but the sight she found wasn't something she expected.

Kagome's head was down, her bangs covering her brown eyes... there was an odd blue light mixed with flicks of pink that glowed around her, like her miko powers were hugging her for comfort, and not hurting Shippo. When she lifted her head everyone stared at her. No one was expecting something like that to happen...

When she opened her eyes they were grey. Not the warm, empty, brown everyone was becoming accustomed to, but a hope filled, welcoming gray accompanied by determination and… happiness. Also her body seemed more defined and lean than a few moments ago, if that was possible.

The same thing went through everyone's head, but Kuwabara voiced it.

"What just happened?"

Kagome smiled at him knowing that they were all wondering the same thing. She wasn't expecting this to happen either. To them it seemed like a couple of seconds, a minute or two the longest. But to her it was seventy-four long fulfilling years.

"I'll tell you what happened. But first I think everyone should sit down, this could take a while." There were gasps at the sound of her voice. It was... angelic... godly; and held so many positive emotions it started to scare them. Alas everyone did as she said and sat down.

She herself sat down and got a faraway look on her face, as though she was remembering.

"Where should I begin..." she pondered to herself aloud, tapping her bottom lip thoughtfully.

~ Flashback~

_Kagome had just stopped crying when she heard a warm feminine voice call her name. Of course Kagome being a curious person, tried to figure out where it came from._ _Her efforts were useless though._

'_I swear I heard someone call my name...'_

"_Kagome."_

'_There it is again! But... where is it coming from?'_

"_Don't try__,__ Kagome. Let it come to you."_

_Kagome was utterly_ _confused at the directions given to her, but followed them to the best of her abilities._

_She saw a flash of white light and suddenly found herself in a beautiful meadow. It had a river and a waterfall, while slightly behind it were elevated on rocks, to the right of the rocks was a hot spring. To the right of the waterfall was a gorgeous giant sakura tree, and to the left of the waterfall was a large boulder that seemed to support a natural privacy for the hot spring._

_Kagome stared in awe at her surroundings. She wasn't expecting to be transported to this beautiful clearing._

"_Where am I?" she asked herself as she started to walk towards the boulder. She wasn't expecting an answer; but she should always expect the unexpected, being her._

"_You're in a dreamscape..."_

"_Huh? But I wasn't sleeping..." She looked around hoping to find the source of the voice._

"_Correct. But you see, this is a meditative dreamscape. Your current state allowed me to transport you from there, to here._"

_Kagome just nodded unaware of what was going on._

"_... But, I have also set a time barrier_ _around your body. You will start training here with me, and leave when your training is complete.", A womanly figure stepped from behind the waterfall, " It will seem like a mere few seconds, minutes at most, to your companions_. _For every year you spend here will seem as though a few seconds have passed to your companions. However it will not affect your body, much._ _You will be training until you know everything you need to know."_

_Kagome was appalled; it was evident all over her face._

'_Much? What does she mean "much"!?'_

"_Don't worry. Your body will simply change for the better. For example: If your muscles define here, then so will your body there. It won't age." When the figure_ _was fully out from under the waterfall Kagome gaped._

_It was Midoriko, in all her glory. Kagome was shocked beyond belief._

_As soon as she regained her composer she knelt before Midoriko, blushing in shame. She held her head down so she couldn't see Midoriko and Midoriko couldn't see her face. She felt more unworthy than she ever thought possible. She didn't even have a full soul anymore, and here she was guarding the jewel of _four_ souls._

_The powerful miko frowned. She didn't want this to happen__._ _She didn't want the young miko to bow before her._

'_She's better than this. We just have to fix that.', thought the ancient miko._

"_Please rise, Kagome, as you told your new companion earlier: we are equals." Midoriko smiled knowingly._

_Kagome smiled faintly and rose, red fading from her face, but pink still adorned her features__._

'_Practice what you preach, Kagome__.__', she silently berated herself._

_Midoriko smiled at the young miko fondly. The smile made Kagome ease a bit, it made her feel a little more relaxed as well as welcome and wanted._ _Thus she smiled back. _That_ was the reaction the ancient miko wanted._

'_Much better. I prefer her smile over her frown.'_

"_So... what kind of training did you have in mind?" Kagome asked, curiosity getting the better of her._

_Midoriko laughed at Kagome's questionable antics. They were amusing, and led her into interesting situations._

'_She's just as curious as that kit of hers.'_

"_Everything you need to know to be prepared, from fighting to controlling your miko_ _powers."_

_Kagome grinned happily. She was going to learn how to control her powers._ _Of course she knew the basics of fighting, thanks to Sango. She also learned some of the ways of the tajiya. It was that thought that turned her grin into a small sad smile._

'_The only good of her death is she won't have to suffer much. Hopefully after Kohaku is beyond the grave she will fully be at peace... hopefully...'_

_Kagome's eyes had a distant look in them. The older miko was saddened at this and knew it would be something they had to work on._

'_Kagome still grieves for her second family... That is understandable, but she can't keep her feelings in. She is deeply hurt... The young miko just needs to see a new light.'_

"_Kagome." Midoriko called her name. Kagome just looked at her, her eyes seemed lost, lonely, and held much hopelessness in them. It almost broke the older miko's heart._

'_She needs to know she is loved... I know a certain someone who may be willing to allow that, maybe two. Even if they are the most unlikely people, they have what it takes. They just don't know it themselves yet... Also something to work on.'_

_Midoriko held out her arms. Kagome understood and walked into them as Midoriko wrapped them around her small petite body._

"_Cry__,__ Kagome. They wouldn't want you to be sad for them, you know that. Just let it all out, it shall make you feel better." Midoriko ordered as she rubbed soothing circles on her back. As though she were on cue Kagome cried. She cried her abnormal blue tears until they stopped streaking down her face. Midoriko held her in a motherly embrace the whole time as if trying to protect the young miko in her arms from the real world._

_When she was done Kagome pulled back and looked up at the older miko with eyes full of thanks. She really needed that, but her eyes stilled_ _held that of loneliness._ _Well,_ _Inuyasha had broken her heart mercilessly after all. More than once, more than twice... and still she loved him, she cared for him... she still had trust in him._

_Kagome's tear stained face smiled softly._

"_Thank you, Midoriko-sama." she whispered, afraid her voice would crack should she talk any louder__._

_Midoriko smiled back at Kagome with a knowing smile. She would tell Kagome about the two people later, in due time, when she thought Kagome would be in better condition. Although one wasn't that hard to tell the other needed her kindness for it to become clear..._

"_Come Kagome, we should start with harnessing your miko power to its fullest potential. It won't do with having it roam freely and barely used. You have to control it, not have it control you." Midoriko said as she sat on the boulder._

'_Although if it does control you you'll just be over protective... and kill everything to ensure your loved ones' protection.'_

_Kagome just nodded dumbly. She didn't know she was stronger than anyone let on._ _She was led to believe that she was weak and worthless, nothing more than a shard detector. Inuyasha had truly torn her heart, as well as filled her head with disgusting lies. But Kagome didn't know they were lies._

"_First you must become one with nature_. _Since you are a beginner and it is your first time, you will have to strip down to nothing. Clothes only tie you down to the material world. It keeps you from nature and your natural self." was Midoriko's first order. At this Kagome blushed wildly. She had to strip in front of the most powerful_ _miko to ever exist... she'd have to show all of herself, which was weak, pathetic... and according to Inuyasha, ugly. All of her unworthiness was to be shown here and now to the most pure being to ever._

"_Do not be shy Kagome. I shall join you if it will set you at ease." Midoriko offered._

_Slowly Kagome nodded. She didn't want to be the only one nude. As soon as she made her gesture she began to lift her shirt. At first she was still a little unsure, but the feeling soon left Kagome as a warm wind wound around her petite form. It was as though mother nature was hugging her, proud that she was willing to accept the fact she was what she was; nothing more, nothing less. As the clothing came off, the feeling of freedom came forth. It was a wonderful feeling, one she never wanted to let go of._ _Of course Midoriko would allow this for a while longer; after all it wasn't her fault she was tossed into this harsh world, the kami wanted her here for this task. Although Kagome would have to be brought back into the cold unforgiving world called reality sooner or later._

_As Kagome took off her last piece of clothing, namely her underwear, her face was flushed. She was giddy and hot. Midoriko was almost embarrassed to be a witness to this, but knew the feeling herself being as she too had experienced it her first time becoming one with nature. In fact she was almost re-experiencing it once more._

_The two mikos stood there, bathing in the fresh air, getting splashed every now and then by water from the fall that hit the rocks too hard. Finally Midoriko brought herself from the state of bliss and started to walk to the river. She stopped only once to poke at Kagome's glowing aura to get her to follow. The young miko's aura glittered at first turning from its calming blue color to a dark green with specks of what looked like small glimmering crystals. The closer they went towards the waterfall the more water came on them. But the two just kept walking as though nothing were happening. Their hair was becoming soaked and sticking to their face._ _Aside from that nothing was happening, Kagome was still berating herself and Midoriko was conflicting within herself with sympathy for Kagome, both of the mikos telling themselves that this wasn't right, it shouldn't be happening._

'_I shouldn't be here. I'm not worthy; there must be someone else alive that's stronger than me.'_

'_She should not be here, not yet. She's too young... she's not ready. She still needs to heal her wounds. The wounds of her heart are still in turmoil... The hanyou had no right. She will fall in love with a youkai, but her experience with the hanyou will make things harder in the future__.__'_

'_The clay pot was stronger than me. Why not her, even if she is undeserving now, she was when she was alive; when Inuyasha wasn't a traitor, when everyone was perfectly happy.'_

_Not long they reached their destination, the base of the waterfall. Kagome stared at the fall, all of her doubt somehow fading away. She took in deep calming breaths that soothed her aches. Midoriko did the same, but to her it was because she loved the smell of fresh clean water and small blossoms it produced._

"_Kagome, now is the time to bring forth what you have within you." Midoriko said._

_Her eyes were full of determination and somewhat hard. She had known that this would be a very painful task, dangerous without the right instruction. And if not handled correctly and seriously could lead to death. Of course Midoriko wasn't about to tell Kagome that. The chance of that happening was very slim._

_Kagome was now a bit fidgety. The hard look in the ancient miko's eyes... it set off a little alarm in her stomach. She knew that this task wouldn't be easy. No it would be something that would change her forever. And maybe, most likely, require her to endure a lot of pain. The pain of betrayal from Inuyasha had already made her feel hollow, but this... this made things worse. The young priestess didn't think it was possible. She just wanted to bolt and hurl whatever was in her belly. But her body wouldn't allow it. It stayed there, her knees locking in position to keep her from running._

"_Kagome. This needs to be done... Now. So please... it'll be easier if you calmed down a bit." Midoriko advised._

_Kagome nodded weakly. "Okay." She closed her eyes and thought of one of the things that means most to her, that she loves and cares about, that was a part of her. She thought of her son, Shippo. He might not be hers by blood, but he was still her son, and always would be._

_When she had finally opened her eyes, they were straight. Any sign of fear or anxiety was completely gone. Kagome was ready for this. The look of a true warrior was set in her eyes. Her lips formed a thin line, ready to overcome any obstacle in her path. She could no longer feel the cold from the waterfall._

"_I'm ready." she said strongly. Her voice seemed a bit more mature and steady._

_Midoriko's lips were also grim. She was aware of the new found power to go through with this tedious task._

"_Good. This task will not be easy as you may have already guessed. But I will not have you do this until you think you are ready to do this yourself. To do this you need to be calm and ready for anything in your path. Anything can come at you at any given moment... What they will be depends on you yourself. Although we all go through the same steps, it is different for every miko." Midoriko informed her._

_Kagome absorbed this information and thought for a few minutes. She hadn't come this far just to say no and walk away from her task, her destiny._

"_I'm ready." she spoke. Her demeanor hadn't let up in the slightest._

'_Good. It wouldn't do to have you die from being unsure of yourself during the final test...'_

_Midoriko nodded accepting her answer. "Follow me.", she said walking closer to the waterfall._

_Kagome was no longer puzzled by things such as this. There would always be places not seen to the eye on the spot. She knew this by now. It wasn't any different than the time she first went into the cave of where Midoriko's body would stay in stone forever. Thus she followed; no questions to be asked._

_When they reached the waterfall itself Midoriko walk until she was at its edge. It was a good thing they left their clothes behind otherwise they would've been soaked by now anyways. Midoriko stopped; to be sure Kagome had followed without falling into the water and accidentally injuring herself._

_When her unasked question was answered she walked behind the waterfall. Kagome stood there and admired the waterfall and its secret for a few mere seconds. It calmed her a bit knowing that things may be peaceful and powerful on the outside, but can hold something and care for it on the inside, behind it's frightening walls... like a certain taiyoukai and youkai she knew._ _She briefly wondered if they were vaguely the same, how they could care for something if they somehow made it through their tough defenses into their heart._

_As soon as her analysis was made she walked behind the waterfall with ease. It was as though she had done it her whole life, when this was her first time._

_The first sight that met her eyes when she walked into the cavern was a lovely green hue. Her eyes immediately searched for the source. They landed on the body of Midoriko sitting with her legs under her in a meditative pose. Her aura of green lit up the whole place, setting a serene look on the landscape._

_Kagome continued to stare at the image through her soaked bangs, taking in the view for as long as it would last. Which, knowing her luck, wouldn't last very long. Kagome sighed wistfully and walked to the other miko's site. She knew what needed to be done. When she was next to the legendary miko she too sat on her legs in a Meditative position._

_As soon as she sat down and made herself slightly comfortable on the stone floor Midoriko looked over to her and cracked one eye open._

"_Let's Begin, Kagome." Midoriko said_._ Her voice was low and steady, yet calm and seemed peaceful._

END CHAPTER


	6. The Pain Within Her Heart

**The Pain Within Her Heart**

_At first Kagome looked wary, but within the moment she straightened up and was prepared for what came at her with strong warm chocolate brown eyes staring at Midoriko. The eyes that seemed to be empty and hollow, still full of the pain that had only happened within the last 48 hours, not even Midoriko herself would be able to overcome such pain in so little time._

'_Such a strong girl... She needs to do this if she's to live. Kagome is a special miko. More powerful than I.' She thought absently._

_Slowly Midoriko lifted her hand and stroked the young Miko on the cheek. It was soft, like her heart, but that didn't surprise the legend. She smiled fondly thinking of how lovely the small woman in her hand was. She giggled lowly in her throat at the thought. Kagome couldn't help but look confused at the older miko's chuckle. But her only answer was Midoriko shaking her head and looking into her eyes._

"_Now then we should begin." the older woman stated taking her hand back and resting it on her lap._

_Midoriko closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "This will be your first test. No matter what happens you need to keep going and pushing with all you've got. Now close your eyes and breathe." she told Kagome softly._

_Kagome did as told without a second thought. Taking a deep breath she awaited Midoriko's next order in this trial._

"_Good. Now I want you to look within yourself. Once you see something I want you to tell me what you see." she instructed._

_Kagome nodded and concentrated. Honestly she thought the first step would be harder than that but didn't object. She looked as hard as possible and found it quiet easily. What she found intrigued her to no end; it looked like a silver mist in the shape of a small kitsune. Only the kitsune was laying on something, almost like it was protecting whatever was next to its belly, sweeping its tail over what seemed to be a dark blue sphere._

"_I see... a silver fog, in the shape of a kitsune...? And it's laying on some kind of sapphire sphere, but every once in a while it's sweeping its tail over the sphere. Almost like it's protecting it, like the thing is an egg. It seems to be... mothering the sphere." Kagome said, unsure if that's what Midoriko was looking for._

_Midoriko was actually surprised that Kagome found her inner power in such a short time. And what she saw was almost as surprising. But Midoriko didn't let it show, she would congratulate Kagome as soon as she was done with the test. Midoriko made a sound of approval in her throat and continued to give instruction._

"_Okay. Next you have to accept what you see, and make it accept you. Make it so that they come toward you, but not to attack you. You should be able to tell the difference. If they do come close and it seems as though it's not in a friendly way, don't be afraid. It will only nip at you, like a warning, you won't be hurt. It might startle you but you have to keep trying and don't lose your focus."_

_Kagome listened to the next instructions intently and followed through. She already accepted whatever it was that was within her. She was just itching to pet the kitsune, it seemed to call her. A small smile adorned her lips on the outside and she thought of touching the kitsune lightly, kind of like she would when she soothed Shippo to sleep. To her amazement she saw her hand outstretch toward the kitsune and softly stroke its fur. The kitsune lifted its head and proceeded to nuzzle against her hand and leaped up towards where her bosom would be. Kagome thought of catching the kitsune and soon two hands were around the kitsune's small waist. It purred in Kagome's hands and she held it close to her chest with one hand then went to grab the sphere with the other._

_When both were in her possession she heard Midoriko's voice with what she was to do next._

"_Kagome, I can tell you have both the kitsune and the sphere. Now you have to look back where they both were and tell me what you see now."_

_The young miko looked to the place where the kitsune and sphere occupied. In its wake made Kagome gasp out loud. There she saw what looked like Kikyo. But as she looked closer to see if her eyes had deceived her, she whimpered. It wasn't Kikyo... it was her. Kagome saw herself. She looked herself in the eyes and that was what made her whimper. The Kagome she was seeing was depressed and seemed lifeless. Her skin was pale and her eyes looked lost, but she wasn't scared. She could see the pain clearly. The Kagome she was seeing looked broken. It was more than obvious that she wasn't happy._

'_Is this what everyone has been seeing? A broken version of me?' she thought miserably._

_Then she looked down to see if she saw anything else. It was there that she saw a heart. Not the kind that was in your body, the kind people drew on paper to show love. And the heart... was bleeding. The blood seeped all over the other Kagome's hands like a waterfall... and she did nothing about it. She let it bleed holding it out in the open, as though hoping someone would fix it for her. Looking further down, near her feet, Kagome saw bandages with blood on them, the bandages seemed to have names on them. _

'_I-is that... my heart?' she thought slowly. She knew her heart felt broken, but to see herself holding a bleeding heart hit Kagome hard. At further inspection she noticed the names were of people who loved her; Koga, Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango… she stopped reading them. Kagome didn't know what to do so she told Midoriko, hoping she would be able to do something._

"_I-I see, me. But... I'm not happy. I look depressed and empty... like I have no soul. And I'm holding what seems to be a heart. You know, the kind people draw in my time__.__ I'm holding it out, and it's bleeding a lot. I'm not doing anything to stop it, like I'm waiting for someone else to fix it for me. But at my feet I see bandages with names on them. Almost as though a few people tried to fix it, but I took off the bandages myself..." she said. It was clear in her voice that Kagome was hurt._

_Midoriko's own heart seemed to cry at Kagome's description. Of course seeing it must be harder. But she needed to finish this task, this test. She noticed Kagome fidgeting with her hands as though she was lost. Then Midoriko opened her mouth to send words of comfort, but then she closed it again knowing she had to finish this task, before comforting. She had to be strong; the both of them had to be strong._

'_I know Kagome might see this as heartless, but she needs to get through this on her own.'_

"_Kagome... now you need to comfort what you see. You will receive a gift when you have accomplished this task. This is the last step. Do not stop concentrating or open your eyes until you have received the gift and anything else your image gives you." she spoke. Midoriko's voice seemed hard and stiff giving Kagome her newest instructions._

_Kagome was close to tears just seeing herself like this; how was she going to comfort herself?_

'_How does Midoriko expect me to comfort myself? I don't know how to comfort myself without crying and making things worse.' she thought pathetically._

_Kagome stared at herself in the eyes again. It pained her deeply to know that this is what her friends and son were seeing; a hopeless woman with a broken heart... a woman who wouldn't allow the broken heart to be healed by just anyone._

_Kagome thought some more staring at what was supposed to be her._

_She was still at a lost but she just had a gut feeling of what she needed to do. She had the kitsune in her hand climb on what was supposed to be her shoulder and gave it back the sphere. It looked like it sent her a nod, as though understanding her intentions. Kagome didn't know what to make of it, so she let it be._

_Then following what her instincts were telling her she looked at the other Kagome with a small smile of understanding. Walking up to her she pushed the heart toward the other Kagome's chest. Then she threw her arms around what seemed to be a lifeless doll and pulled her closer to her person. Kagome closed her eyes, she could feel the bleeding heart's blood on her skin. But that didn't stop her from hugging the other miko. In fact, it made her hug the other Kagome tighter._

_Then she whispered to herself, "Cry. It's okay. Everyone needs to cry. Cry as long as it takes. No one likes seeing you this way. And yourself… you as yourself know this isn't right. So just… cry."_

_It was then that the other Kagome moved for what seemed to be the first time. She leaned her head on Kagome's shoulder and started sobbing, loudly, and it was heart wrenching_._ Still, Kagome held on to the other her and began to rub soothing circles on her back as others had done before for her. The more the other Kagome cried the less Kagome felt the heart bleed. It felt as though hours had passed as the other Kagome cried. But after every hour Kagome noticed that the heart was bleeding less and less. Soon her heart stopped bleeding completely and the other Kagome stopped crying._

_When the tears stopped falling, the other Kagome lifted her head and looked into Kagome's eyes. A small smile graced her tear stained face and she stood back as Kagome's hands fell to her own sides. Then the other Kagome held out her healed heart with a large smile. It was obvious that she was no longer in pain, for her eyes seemed to twinkle with a happiness that seemed a bit over-due._

_Then without warning the other Kagome sprouted pure white wings. The winged Kagome fanned out her new attachments and held her hands over her head with the heart floating just above them. There was a sudden bright light that came so fast Kagome was almost unprepared for it, but she held her concentration. The light seemed to envelop her in a temporary cocoon. When the light finally faded Kagome looked back and forth at first, seeking the other her. It would have appeared that the winged Kagome had left her, but then Kagome looked up and saw something that made her jaw drop at the sight._

_There the other Kagome was, her back arched and wings still fanned, but she seemed to be in a peaceful sleep. Her legs and arms were apart from her body and her hair blew wildly around her. But although she looked to be in a restful sleep, she also looked... dead. It was then that Kagome noticed a pool of water beneath the other Kagome. And when she look at her face, she noticed that the other Kagome had one last tear trickle down her face, into the pool of water._

'_Those are… my tears?' she questioned herself. There was so much water that it could have been mistaken for a lake, but Kagome knew better._

_The other Kagome seemed to float back down gently and stood on top of the water in all her glory. She opened her eyes, and they were blue. Then she opened her mouth as though to speak, but what came out of her mouth astounded Kagome even more; it was as if a goddess was speaking with her._

"_Kagome... You have to walk into the spring of tears. You will not have to breathe, just keep walking until you reach the center and you are touching the bottom. That would be right below me, Kagome. At the bottom, you will have proved that you passed the test... And there, something wonderful will happen." she said softly, but her voice also held authority Kagome did not wish to disobey._

_So she began walking to her destination. With every step the water got deeper. But not far after Kagome was where she was told to be._

'_Now what happens?' she questioned herself._

_Then in a flash the other Kagome was right in front of Kagome, with a warming smile on her face. The angelic Kagome outstretched her hand and touched Kagome on cheek. Then she came close and soon, she closed the gap and kissed Kagome on the lips. Kagome's eyes widened in shock; she wasn't prepare for such thing to happen and she fell on her knees, her lips still connected to the angel who looked like her._

_Several moments later the other Kagome parted and looked Kagome in the eyes._

"_Kagome... You are now my sister. Although you shall not bear wings, you are now a celestial being. Your looks shall slightly change, and you will live as long as a youkai. You also now have the ability to heal as fast as a taiyoukai. There may be some side effects, since you are a miko, but you shall find what they are all your own. Farewell, Kagome. I wish you luck in the future." she said as a parting, floating to the surface of the spring._

"_Wait! Please! What is your name?" Kagome shouted, hoping to catch the woman's name who looked so much like her._

_The celestial being looked down and smiled softly, "My name is Yurushi."_

'_Yurushi... forgiveness?' she thought absently before she disappeared._

_When Yurushi reached the surface it was like she disappeared. Then falling from where she once was a katana floated down toward Kagome._

_Kagome looked at the blade with curiosity and held her hand out for it. Once it was in her grasp it felt as though it was made for her and her only. As if on cue she returned to the plane which Midoriko was waiting for her. When Kagome saw the older miko she smiled widely, holding her acquired weapon in her hand. And then she heard a soft purr coming from her left shoulder._

_Confused, Kagome looked at her shoulder and saw the odd kitsune on her shoulder with eyes the color of the sphere. When Kagome looked for the sphere she saw it was no where to be found. It seemed to have merged with the once misty kitsune. Still Kagome flashed the kitsune a welcoming smile. The kitsune mewed and nuzzled against her cheek._

_Midoriko watched with amusement dancing in her eyes._

'_It would appear Kagome brought back her spirit animal with her.' she thought fondly of how she had brought Kirara out with her._

"_Kagome.", she said, breaking the silence, "I'm so proud of you. You tamed your spirit beast, brought it out along with your true powers and faced your inner troubles all on your own." she boasted._

"_Now you have to name the kit. It's like Kirara, only instead of a two-tailed fire neko it's a nine-tailed heaven kitsune. The rarest kitsune there is. It only has one tail now because it's so young." Midoriko spoke, answering Kagome's unasked questions._

"_... I think I'll name him... Shen." she thought aloud looking at Midoriko for approval. All Midoriko did was lift an eyebrow whilst the silver kitsune licked her cheek. Kagome giggled and pet him, "Shen it is."_

_Midoriko stood and walked toward the entrance. The sun outside was high, unbeknownst to Kagome she had been within herself for 3 days. Still time did not matter here. Kagome and she needn't eat so that wasn't any trouble._

"_Kagome come. I wish for you to show me what you know before we begin your training." Midoriko ordered._

_At such Kagome stood up and blushed deeply. Kagome was pretty sure she didn't know much of anything besides a few techniques in fighting. Still, Kagome would give it all she had. With Shen on her shoulder she walked toward Midoriko and followed her onto the grass near the willow. It was then that she noticed that Midoriko was wearing her clothes again. But as Kagome looked down to inspect herself she saw that she was wearing a small kimono._

'_H-how did I get this?' she wondered. To someone as Kagome she felt unworthy to be able to wear such a thing. It was pure white silk with red hems and small red flower petal patterns all around__._

_Ignoring the fact that she was wearing something so pristine and beautiful she walked in front of Midoriko and put Shen down. It was there that she put on a strong face and took a stance. Her legs were slightly apart and bent slightly. Her arms were in front of her, hands forming a triangle and she shot forward a beam of pure energy._

_When it slowed down Kagome looked at her own hands. She didn't know she could do that! Hell she didn't even know what she was doing. Slowly she looked over to where Midoriko was. Midoriko just sat there with a large smile on her face. It was obvious that she was proud of the young miko for showing her such power._

"_Very good. Now let's begin and take off from there." Midoriko said with a grin on her face._

END CHAPTER


	7. The Wind's Whispers

**The Wind's Whispers**

_Kagome looked at Midoriko with a large blush painted on her face; then looked back at her own hands. Midoriko just laughed, while Shen looked at Kagome with a small twinkle in her eyes._

"_Don'__t worry about that Kagome. Here you can fully tap into your powers. With the task you just finished you've gained more power, and Shen is immune to them so you don't have to worry about hurting her. And within this plane it's as though you have a full soul, when you leave here you'll notice the slight decrease of power. Later I will tell you how to obtain your soul once again without having it tainted." Midoriko explained lightly._

_Kagome's eyes went wide with what she just heard. She hadn't exactly thought much about what just happened._

"_Whoa! Wait a minute. I just gained more powers from Yurushi? Does this have anything to do with me being a celestial miko now? There's a way for me to get my soul back, untainted? And... Shen is a... girl?" she asked speaking a mile a minute, trying to figure everything out so it didn't cloud her mind later._

_This time Midoriko looked at Kagome curiously. She had wondered what happened while she was within herself for so many hours. Never had anyone heard of a miko becoming a celestial during the task. Plus Kagome never told Midoriko what had happened while she received her gift. Then again going through such task was rare. Although the question referring Shen's gender almost made the older miko fall over._

_'How did Kagome not know Shen's gender... then again the young miko might have respected the kitsune's personal space.'_

"_Kagome, breathe. First off, yes, Shen is a girl. Now I want you to sit down so we can talk before me move on. "_

_Kagome's eye arched up elegantly at the new information about Shen. Kagome looked over at Shen and Shen tilted her head at Kagome, cutely. The young miko sighed and walked towards Shen._

_At such Shen stood up and waited for Kagome to sit, when she did Shen jumped onto her and made her self comfortable. Kagome smiled cheekily at the heaven kitsune and petted her._

"_Well now, thanks for giving me a heads up there. How a kitsune can be heavenly and innocent, is beyond me... but you and Shippo pull it off quite nicely." she said, tapping the young kitsune on the nose lightly. The young kit tilted her head and twitched an ear. She yipped with joy and swished her tail to one side. Kagome smiled and continued to pet the young kitsune._

_It was then that Midoriko asked her, "Kagome. What happened after you comforted yourself?" her face was strict and serious._

_Kagome looked directly into Midoriko's eye and told her every thing, including the kiss that had made her and Yurushi related. It didn't take long being as to Kagome it had only been a few hours. It didn't feel like days to her._

_Midoriko looked at Kagome, a light blush on her face. Even Midoriko had never heard of celestial beings choosing humans to be their kin. Apparently Kagome was pure enough; it would explain why Shen was a heaven kitsune. Kirara was a fire neko due to Midoriko's wrath: fiery. It would seem Midoriko just wasn't pure enough to be chosen, due to her temporary hate towards youkai before Kirara came along. It was that mistake that had slightly tainted her from being chosen to be celestial. But what she had done in the past was behind her now, besides she was bound to the Shikon no Tama until a pure wish was made._

_The wind blew past, almost wistfully, and tossed both miko's dark locks around. Midoriko watched Kagome as she held her hand out with a smile with a small nod, as though to soothe the wind. Kagome had heard the wind ask her if she was faring well. She couldn't ignore the whispers, it sounded as though they were worried; she had to do something. She blew air out of her mouth softly; to show the wind she was fine. It spun around her as though to be sure and when it was it lifted up and left. Kagome smiled and waved to the sky._

_Midoriko looked at the celestial miko in an odd manner. It might have been just her, but she was sure she just saw Kagome speak to the elements. It was true that there were to be side-effects from the bond due to her miko powers and what they were to be was unknown. Maybe Kagome was able to speak with the elements, but it... couldn't be possible. Only one miko could do that... and that one miko was her, as well as her reincarnations. Of course so far there was only one reincarnation that was hers, but she was still a child at the moment, and she didn't have her full powers due to the fact part of her was also within the Shikon no Tama. Still, only legendary mikos were granted that gift by the kami. It was very rare._

"_Kagome... did you just... hear the wind?" she asked cautiously._

_Kagome looked over at the older miko with wide eyes. She hadn't realized that she was speaking with the wind; all Kagome heard was a whisper. But, how would Midoriko know... unless she heard them too. All Kagome could do though was raise her hands to mouth and nod sheepishly. Of course, curiosity got the better of Kagome and she had to ask._

"_Do... do you hear them too?" she questioned. Kagome just had to know._

_Midoriko nodded with a small smile, "Yes Kagome. I hear 'them' too. As do my reincarnations. But there is only one at the moment... I believe you know her, or have seen her a few times. She's such a kind girl, who has found the oddest company. A bit like you, but she has found her way into royalty. Not as to the highest kingdom of the spirit world like you; but the highest on this plane in this time."_

_Kagome and Shen tilted their heads to the side at the same time hoping to get a name from Midoriko. But Midoriko just shook her head slowly, smile still in place, "In due time Kagome. You will know, and you will play a great role in her life."_

_Kagome just nodded then looked down at Shen as if she had the answers. Shen just twitched an ear and licked Kagome on the nose. Kagome smiled wryly at the kitsune's actions._

"_Yeah, I'm never going to get over how kitsune pull the innocent act off.", Kagome said through slightly clenched teeth._

_Midoriko chuckled at Kagome's spoken thoughts._

"_Well Kagome, it seems as though you've gotten a hold of your powers. Now let's just harness them. First, just take deep breaths and feel all that's around you.", as she said this, she also began to follow her own instructions._

_Kagome sighed and did as told. She wasn't expecting much of anything. Although the encouraging whispers from the elements made her happy and set her into a more meditative state._

_Midoriko cracked an eye open to see Kagome had gone a step ahead of her without instruction._

_'So I see her instincts are calling out to her. That's good, this won't be as difficult if she trusts herself.'_

"_Kagome I want you to follow your instincts. Let them guide you."_

_But Kagome couldn't hear the older miko, it was muffled. She heard another voice, it was calming and it seemed as though it had only her best intentions at heart. She heard it tell her things that would help her in the near future and how to control her powers. Soon Kagome was engulfed in a blue light that seemed to cling to her skin. It tingled and felt warm, but Kagome's face seemed to be contorted in full concentration. It wasn't much later that she was panting and beads of sweat started to coat her brow._

"_Almost... there." she panted through tightly clenched teeth._

_Kagome continued to work for what felt like days, in truth hours. When she finally reached her goal her eyes shot open and seemed clouded, as though she was blind. Her body lifted from the ground to the air and curled in itself as though she was in incredible pain. Several moments later Kagome quickly stretched her limbs from her body and a light shone brightly through her eyes and mouth as she let out a silent scream. As she screamed the wind picked up and wound around her in fierce worry. Water softly fell from the sky in attempt to calm their miko, but at the same time it seemed as though the sky was crying. Lightening streaked across the sky and stuck a pile of woods. Flames shot up on contact and looked as though they were trying to reach the young miko and encase her in their warm glow. Grass swayed left and right while the tree's loose branches creaked, both growing in futile attempt to reach the distressed miko._

_Midoriko stopped all together and was frozen to the ground, just watching the scene before her. If truth be told it frightened her. The elements were doing all they could to try and comfort the distressed miko. They went to what was supposed to be impossible lengths. The wind was blowing wildly around her. The water felt more like a drizzle, but the amount falling from the sky one would think there would be a flood. Lightening fell from the dark clouds starting a small fire that grew and seemed to want Kagome in its embers. The earth itself grew impossibly fast trying to reach the young miko. But the shocking part of all this was that none of it seemed to harm either miko; and although it looked like a natural disaster occurring the elements seemed to get along fine with each other. Fire wasn't destroying earth; water and air didn't doused out fire; and water wasn't drowning earth._

_Midoriko felt that if she were to open her mouth her very soul would disperse. It was both beautiful yet frightening. But at the same time that's what it was and it resembled Kagome in its own odd way, beautiful yet deadly._

_Kagome was still within the air. Her hair and clothes seemed to flow around her wildly. Tears seemed to continuously streak down her face, leaving red where it once trekked, her mouth still parted for her silent scream that tore through her delicate throat emptying her pink lungs. It seemed that this event was to be forever to both her and Midoriko. How it was to end was unsure to both women._

_It was around this time that Kagome could scream no more and her heart throbbed almost painfully against her chest. Her ears were deafened from the throb. Her vision was blurred from her tears as they stopped abruptly. Eyelids and breath growing heavy, her body tingled all over. It felt as though it was sensitive yet numb at the same time. She could feel every little thing, but couldn't move the slightest part of her body. All she could do was stare straight ahead as her eyes seemed to close on their own accord. It was then that Kagome realized she that she was tired. Her breaths calmed down as she slowly descended from the sky._

_Midoriko then shot out of her temporary coma of fear. Midoriko would admit, the scene that fell out before her scared her deeply. But it would not stop her from doing all she could; she wouldn't let her fear stop her from doing anything._

_'Especially if it means to help Kagome.', she thought as she ran to the falling miko._

_Midoriko had made it just in time as the young miko fell into her arms. But instead of feeling a bit heavier due to the height, she felt as light as a feather._

_'I wonder if she was always this light...', she thought absently looking down to into the celestial's face._

_The evidence that she cried was still there and stood out against her pale skin. With the hours that passed it didn't surprise the older miko that the sun had set and the moon took over. The clouds from the rain were disappearing allowing a clear view to the stars and moon. Even for a dreamscape it had to have cycles like the real world. Midoriko quickly shook it off as nothing important and walked to where the fire still danced._

_The closer they got the warmer and brighter it became. Kagome started to shift in Midoriko's arms. The older miko's immediate reaction was to look down and make sure she was fine. She was greeted with the odd sight of a single blue tear falling from the corner of Kagome's eye. She furrowed her eyebrows together in slight confusion. She had never seen blue tears. Studying the other woman's face as though she had the answers, she received none and shook her head and mumbled something to herself and continued walking toward the fire._

_When she reached the dancing embers she lowered Kagome to the dry ground below. Kagome turned on her side, facing the fire in a subconscious action for more warmth. She placed one hand under her head as the other lay on the ground next to her. She let out a small yawn and fell deeper into sleep. Midoriko would have to accept what just happened and let it be. It was indeed curious, but she knew not even Kagome would be able to explain it._

_She sighed deeply. Midoriko herself didn't need sleep so she sat down and stared into the fire thinking about what just happened to Kagome._

_Kagome awoke when a beam of sunlight fell across her face. Slowly she opened her eyes and her sighted was greeted with Midoriko smiling sadly down at her._

_At such, Kagome furrowed her eyebrows together in confusion, "Midoriko? ... What's wrong?" she asked quietly._

_But Midoriko just shook her head, smile still in place. She stood up and walked over to the sakura tree and placed a hand on it. Her back was towards the younger miko. Kagome took this as a sign to get up and walked over toward Midoriko and looked at her back, silent. Midoriko was aware of Kagome's movements and turned around, her face seemed like stone._

'_She looks like she did when she died. Like... the limestone statue.' Kagome stared into her eyes, and saw a determined fire burning in her green orbs._

"_Kagome, from last night, I can tell you already know now how to control your powers. And from what I remember Sango had taught you a little bit in self defense. So instead, I shall teach you how to fight." her voice held much authority._

_Kagome's mouth fell agape. She was going to learn how to fight. Everyone would tell her she's too soft to fight. But here Midoriko was telling her that she was going to learn, and from what she knew from the story of how the Shikon was made Midoriko had lots of endurance._

_Kagome looked at Midoriko and all she could do was nod._

_'Good. No complaints this time.'_

_From then on Midoriko trained her rigorously. At first she had Kagome run laps, then lift weight. After a few weeks she had to run while carrying the weights. Of course things got rougher, she ran through the water with the weights. After that Midoriko would have Kagome hit targets with her arrows, then moving targets. Then because Midoriko had a sense of humor she had her learn to use a staff next. Kagome seemed to fair pretty well with the staff and would sleep with it, trying to remember Miroku. She had cried in her sleep because it felt so familiar. Then she moved on to the next weapon, a sickle. Kagome looked at it oddly, it wasn't as it appeared to be. She could take the sickle off the bottom which was a metal ball, supposedly a weight, to reveal a chain; it was a chain-sickle. Very similar to the one tajiya used. Kagome also got close to this weapon._

_Then it was weapon after weapon. Each one she seemed to get attached to. Kagome noticed they skipped the sword when they went to the scythe. Kagome felt she was scarily good with the scythe. She seemed to move with god-like grace while she wielded it. Midoriko didn't spend much time on that weapon, being that Kagome had a natural feel for it, much more than the other weapons she had used. The final weapon she was trained to use was, at last, the sword. Kagome spent much time learning many techniques for it. From protecting to killing with deadly accuracy, Kagome mastered all the weapons. But the sword, being as there were many techniques, she had spent a year learning them. She also took this time to become better acquainted with the sword Yurushi gave her._

_Of course during her training Shen would join them every now and then. The young kitsune had the power to purify things and run on clouds. It reminded Kagome of Kirara, only she could burn things, and ran on fire. Everyday Shen seemed to get better and better, and Kagome congratulated the kitsune every time. She was a big support to Shen and vice versa._

_Over time her body got use to the movements and it felt like second nature to her. Of course she still valued using her bow and arrow, but that was to be expected as it was her first weapon. With all the training Kagome had noticed that he body had changed for the better. Her muscles had become more defined, and her hair grew longer. There was one thing she noticed before the training when she went to bathe in the hot springs. She no longer had body hair besides her eyebrows, eyelashes, and of course the hair on her head. There was no leg hair, no arm hair, nothing. Of course when she first saw that her patch of hair that was supposed to cover her nether lips from view was gone, she freaked. After calming down and realizing it was part of being a celestial, she pouted and mumbled._

_As time went on Kagome noticed that when she was brought here she didn't have her bag, thus no razors. Hey a girl has to look her best at all times. And nothing is more embarrassing than showing off hairy legs when she can help it. So the no body hair thing was perfectly fine with her, she didn't need to spend extra money anymore, and her legs felt so smooth. After liking the idea Kagome was very pleased._

_Midoriko had come to treat Kagome like a daughter and laughed at her antics when she tripped and the first time she overreacted. It was quite funny to see Kagome flailing and ranting about in the hot springs of her body hair, only to squeal in delight. To Kagome it might have seemed like pouting and mumbling, but that was far from what had happened._

_Then they spent time sparing each other daily. Once in a while Shen would jump in and help. Either she would help Kagome, to get her use to the feeling of having a fighting companion or she would help Midoriko get Kagome to be stronger, even with all the training Midoriko put her through. Kagome seemed very happy during this time, it was kind of like their bonding time. You could see the twinkle in her eyes everyday at this time. It was like a mixture of Sango and the old Inuyasha were during a fight. They enjoyed it and it was their definition of fun. Of course being that Sango was a woman, she knew when to stop, as did Kagome._

_She would never openly admit this to anyone, but she missed the hanyou. No matter how betrayed she felt, she knew deep down, the Inuyasha she knew was still there. Hopefully things would be resolved in the future. Now that she thought about it, she had sensed darkness in the air about Inuyasha and Kikyo on that fateful night. But she didn't listen; she just added fire to the fuel. That night she cried herself to sleep. Her tears were silent and she dreamt of how she had made the hanyou a promise; a promise to always be his friend. When she woke up she felt a bitter sweet in her stomach, they were still friends. She just had to find a way to fix things._

_Time passed quickly to the young miko and Midoriko felt as though every hour was another day._

_But when time had come to leave the dreamscape, Kagome had ran to the older miko and cried like she had on the day they met. Midoriko allowed the action and also let a few tears slip. Midoriko felt as though she were losing a daughter; and Kagome felt like she was losing another great friend. Shen had also become sad at this time. She nuzzled the older miko since she was going to leave with Kagome. Shen had grown attached to both women and would hate to leave them, but Kagome came first in her eyes. Midoriko understood and hugged Shen next._

_'Take good care of her, Shen. She'll need all the help she can get.'_

"_Shen, I want you to wait until Kagome informs her companions of you before you go to her. Understood? I doubt Kagome would want you to be killed by accident by these new people." she whispered to the heaven kitsune._

_Shen mewed and licked Midoriko's cheek in understanding. The young kitsune had proved to be very loyal. She would stay with Kagome as much as possible and watched over her with a careful eye, despite the fact it was perfectly safe within the dreamscape. She had also shown that she had a larger form, much like Kirara. Then she showed that she too had a human form, but now she looked nothing more than a child, about 6 or 7 years of age, with moon like skin. She stood about Shippo's height, but had human feet, so she was just a little bit taller. Her hair was silver with a blue hue, like her fur, and her eyes were a sapphire color, like the sphere she was protecting before, with a slit in the middle, much like Shippo's eyes. Instead of elfish ears hers stood atop her hear, a solid color that matched her hair. And she also had a tail, much like Shippo's just, less puffy and longer. At first Kagome said how cute she was, picked her up and cuddled her; much like she had when she first met Souten. Shen giggled and nuzzled back. Her japanese was quite good for a child. And her voice was like small bells. Shen preferred her human form but would sometimes turn into her kitsune forms for various reasons. When she turned into her human form, she wasn't nude, as was expected, but she wore a beautiful Kimono, much like the one Kagome would wear while she was training. Only instead of red it was blue, and made of the finest silk._

_Before they both left Midoriko said she had gifts for them. For Shen, she gave her a necklace that would fit all of her forms. Shen squealed with delight and threw her arms around the older miko's legs._

"_Thank you Obaa-chan. Thank you so much." she said automatically. As soon as the words left her mouth she froze._

_Shen had always wanted to call Midoriko her Obaa-chan, and Kagome her Okaa-san. She never asked either of them and referred to them by their first name. But this time her mouth ran without thinking. Slowly she lifted her head to see Midoriko smile down at her._

"_You can always call me your Obaa-chan, Shen." she said, ruffling the kitsune's hair._

_Shen smiled up at the miko and looked over to Kagome who had arms waiting for her, much like a mother would._

_Shen's smile turned into a full blow grin and ran to Kagome, who caught her and lifted her up._

"_Kagome?" she asked shyly. Kagome gave a sign she was listening. "Can I call you 'Okaa-san'?" she asked quietly, a small blush making its way across the kitsune's face._

_Kagome just smiled and planted a small kiss on Shen's forehead. "I was waiting for you to ask. I would be delighted of you did, after all, you came from me, did you not?"_

_Shen was shocked. That was true. She had come from Kagome, so that would make her Kagome's child. Kagome was her true mother all along. She smiled and nodded. Then something came into her mind, but she would ask Kagome at a later time._

"_By the way Kagome, at the beginning you asked who my reincarnation was... her name is Rin. Please look after her and care for her. You know she is an orphan... and she needs to know she is loved. As for your gift, it is this." Midoriko lifted her hand and placed one finger on her forehead. Midoriko's finger glowed green, as she had when they first went into the waterfall's cave. Then she pulled her finger back and smiled at her handy work._

_Kagome looked up trying to see what it was that was on her head now. She strained, but still she couldn't see, it was plainly obvious, no matter how hard she tried, she wouldn't be able to. Shen tried to hide a giggle behind her hands, but it still seeped through._

"_I can't see it! What is it?" she complained childishly._

_Midoriko smiled. This just might be the last time she could see Kagome in person like this. Her soul being within the Shikon no Tama, she could always see and hear Kagome, but... this would be the last time she could see her in person._

_'74 years isn't enough. Heh, a life time wouldn't be enough.' she thought solemnly._

"_Kagome, on your head is a black marking that looks like a head band with a tear drop in the center, my gift to you. It will only show when you display a strong amount of power. You won't be able to tap into that power until you have your whole soul." she explained with a sad smile. They both forgot that she didn't have a full soul while being in here._

_Kagome smiled sadly at the older miko and accepted the gift with honor._

"_Thank you Midoriko. It means so much to me.", she said honestly._

_They all hugged one last time and then Shen and Kagome faded from the dreamscape._

"_I'm going to miss them both. I hope they'll be happy from here on out." Midoriko said as soon as they were out of her sight, tears falling down her face. She made no move to wipe them away. Midoriko was both happy and yet sad. She would always watch over them._

~ End Flashback~

Kagome looked at everyone. They had been polite enough to stay silent through her story, and from the looks of it, they paid attention. Shippo had woken up just in time to hear about her training. Of course Kagome left out some parts since she thought they didn't need to know. Like her complaining, and bathing. But other than that she told them what she could in detail.

Yusuke was first to get up and looked Kagome up and down, like he was checking her out.

"Well I for one approve." he stated with a devilish grin plastered on his face.

Kagome's face seemed to glow bright red as her eyes widened. She should be use to perverted actions thanks to Miroku, but this was the first time someone has seen her as she was now. To be frank she was currently a little self conscious. She bit her bottom lip and tried to avoid all eye contact. It would seem that her voice had left her for the moment.

Shippo knew what was going on with her, as did Arashi. Shippo, being her son, knew what her personality was like and tried to soothe her by patting her head. Arashi, being a woman, knew how it felt after a woman's appearance change. Most of them were very self conscious, Kagome included. But she didn't make any out-bursts or scenes, she was just shy. She walked behind the miko and wrapped her arms around her waist, trying to calm her down. It didn't work very well being that Kagome blushed even harder, if possible.

"Don't worry Okaa-san, I think you look pretty." Shippo whispered.

Kagome smiled down at him. Her blush dimmed down a bit, but was still there. Shippo knew what she was worried about.

"Thank you, Shippo." she said and kissed him on the forehead lovingly.

Just then a young girl shyly poked her head out from behind a tree. She hid her mouth behind her hand, the other on the tree trunk. She had gorgeous sapphire eyes and her ears were down, as though she was afraid of rejection.

"I think you're pretty too Okaa-san." she said looking at the ground.

Kagome smiled at the young girl and waved and arm, telling her to come closer. The girl blushed shyly and walked slowly toward Kagome. She had her eyes down to the floor, trying to avoid all but Kagome's gaze.

Shen had never been around many people. She had only been with Kagome and Midoriko, so meeting new people was something she never thought about. Sure Kagome had mentioned everyone in her group, and her son Shippo, but meeting them in person was another thing.

When she reached Kagome, she was picked up and also received a kiss on the forehead.

"Thank you, Shen." she said with a warm motherly smile upon her lips.

"Everyone, I want you to meet my daughter, Shen. Please make her feel welcomed." she said her smile still on her face.

END CHAPTER

AN: I know I did some Inu bashing before, and I'm sorry for those who love him too. But you'll see why I did so later on, so keep reading.


	8. Silver Bells

**Silver Bells**

Shippo was still perched on Kagome's right shoulder and leaned down inspecting Shen intensely, almost menacingly seeing if she matched Kagome's every little detail. Shen looked up also looking at Shippo taking in every detail of him, only instead of scrutinizing as heated as he was she looked softly, almost shyly, still hiding behind her hand. Her thin tail was swaying a bit behind her, hanging off of Kagome's lap. Arashi, being that she was still behind Kagome, looked over the celestial's head and proceeded to look at Shen with the same curiosity the young kitsune had for Shippo. Shen noticed this as soon as she was done looking over Shippo, and looked back at the older kitsune, who was Shippo's last blood relative.

This lasted for what seemed like 10 minutes. During this time Kagome sat perfectly still and refrained from saying anything, only vaguely aware of the anxiety creeping into her person. On small occasions when the kitsune went to sniff the other, Kagome would send barely noticeable looks toward Hiei and Kurama for help. Hiei couldn't help but send a small look of sympathy, he could do no more. Kurama noticed the looks but did nothing, only because he was holding back Youko. Youko wanted to get out and inspect Shen as much as the other kitsune who were.

When they were done though Kagome calmed down noticeably, although unaware of when she tensed up. Arashi being satisfied with her scrutinize of the young kitsune wrapped her arms around Kagome's shoulders and rested her head on the miko's left shoulder. Shippo being done however just stayed where he was, although never taking his eyes off of the kitsune on Kagome's lap. Shen, satisfying that part of her curiosity, looked over to the rest of the new group. She looked each and every one of them up and down as they did to her. Hiei's was less noticeable than all the others. To anyone else it would seem as though he was burning holes into her person with his stare, as he did most. Shen ignored it and continued, although it gave her chills.

To everyone who knew him, it seemed as though Hiei's inspection wasn't as bad as most, although in truth it was the most intense out of all the others. Hiei wanted to memorize every little aspect of Kagome's miracle child. If something were to ever happen to Shen, he was sure Kagome would go all out to get her back, as she would for Shippo, and if anything Hiei made sure that he would protect his ward's children to keep her happy. It was obvious to him that he was growing some feelings for the young miko. No matter how much he despised himself for allowing the feelings to even stir in his being, he would try to make her happy.

After all curiosity was fulfilled Shen finally remembered her manners and her cheeks became a rosy color. Her tail had stilled and she fidgeted a bit in Kagome's lap. Kagome let go of Shen and let her stand. Shen stood as close as she could to the miko. She held her head up high and let her hand fall from her face and placed both of them on her legs and bowed quickly. Her eyes gained a soft gleam to them.

"Ano, hello... my name is Shen." the young kit blushed harder. She was very nervous. "I'm, ano", Shen looked over at Kagome who just smiled and nodded her head approvingly, "I'm very happy to be here and to have been able to meet all of you. Thank you for looking after my Okaa-san, my Nii-san, and me." Shen rushed the last part, but everyone heard her perfectly.

As soon as she was done Shen ran into Kagome's side and held on tightly. To her it felt like the hardest thing she would have to do all her life. Apparently meeting people was not her thing. Kagome smiled warmly at her and patted her hear in a silent praise.

Hiei wanted to smile at the kitsune, but refrained. Shen's actions slightly reminded him of Yukina. She was a youkai, yes, but she was truly a shy person with a good heart. Of course her being Kagome's daughter, the last part didn't surprise him.

Everyone else did smile at her though. Shippo crawled down into Kagome's lap and placed a small hand on her shoulder.

Shen looked over to see a pair of green eyes looking into her own sapphire ones. It was plainly obvious that she was still blushing. Shippo just smiled at her, one fang over lapped his bottom lip. Shen's blush lessened, but a pink hue was still there. She smiled back at her new older brother, showing off her two shiny fangs that poked over her bottom lip. Arashi, still being there, smiled watching the two kitsune easily get along. She was very interested in watching the two interact, especially up close. Her tails were swaying in perfect content with her mood.

"So wait, if Shen is here then where's your sword?" Yusuke asked bluntly.

Kagome just smiled and shook her head. It was understandable to why he would be curious, but to Kagome... he would just have to wait and see like everyone else.

Yusuke, having grown respect over his years of fighting and being a spirit detective, just rolled his eyes and slouched. It was slightly annoying not being able to get the exact information he wanted, but all the same time he would just get on with life and this mission.

Kurama and Youko though, seemed a bit peeved at the fact that out of the few secrets Kagome was keeping from them, the location of her weapon was the one of them, and out of all the secrets they knew she had, this one was starting to bother them the most. If anything were to happen to the celestial miko or her little kitsune children, they would like to know that she would be able to take care of herself and them. Of course with all of detectives and Arashi protecting them, the chances of that happening were slim, but still there. And they didn't know how strong this Naraku character was. As far as they were aware, he was a puppet master and a threat to all the world and time itself.

However that was basically of all their great missions, either do it right or die and end all the worlds, but as expected Kurama kept a calm facade, deceiving everyone to what he was really thinking and what his true emotions were.

Kagome looked over to Kurama and frowned at him. Kurama looked over and smiled with some sympathy.

"What's wrong, Kagome?" he asked gently.

Kagome frowned even more.

"Kagome?" he asked a little worried.

Kagome put her children down, looked over silently asking Arashi to let her go, which was complied, and walked a little away from everybody, but waved a hand for just him to follow.

Kurama did as she wished from him. From there Kagome turned and walked for about 5 minutes, not far from camp but far enough so no one could hear, not even with enhanced hearing.

"Kagome?" he asked slowly, worry was still etched into his voice.

Kagome looked him straight in his green eyes and poured all the sadness from her toward him. Kurama almost flinched, the pain seemed very familiar, but so odd, especially in her gray eyes.

"Why, Kurama? Why do you lie? You have to be true, or no one will. You hurt on the inside. You bleed almost as much as Hiei, and I mourn for the both of you. I can feel your pain and all the regret you carry. So tell me... why do you hide it?" she asked, tears brimming at her eyes.

Kurama was almost taken aback and frowned himself. She wasn't supposed to know. So why did she..., and why ask? It was obvious that the miko cared for all, but to try and heal what was there for so long...

The only thing the kitsune could fully think of was how he should tell her. It was clear the only thing she would accept was the truth. The thing was; how do you tell one of the most pure beings to ever walk the earth something so dark and personal.

Kurama and Youko were very ashamed of themselves. They were the ones causing Kagome pain and sadness. Kurama held back the tears that were close to falling from his emerald eyes. Suddenly it was hard to look her in the eyes, so he tried looking at the roots of a nearby tree to his right. This didn't work being that Kagome put a hand under his chin and forcing him lightly to look her in the eyes. This time when he looked at her she was crying, crying blue tears.

"Kurama, tell me why?" she whispered as a new set of blue tears fell down her cheeks.

Kurama didn't know what to do... the shame he felt was a heavy burden on his heart at that exact moment. Youko, too, was ashamed. Instead of saying anything he fell on his knees and his shoulders started shaking. He tried to hide in his hands as tears raced down his face from his eyes. A pair of warm small arms wrapped around him and held him tight. Kurama let his hands go from his face and wrapped them around the waist of the woman who held him like a child as he cried.

Kagome began to rub small circles on his back while the other ran through his hair as he cried into her small figure; a grown man... a grown youkai, crying like a lost child.

Time seemed to stand still for the two. When Kurama was done crying he lifted his head and looked into the miko's face. She was smiling down at him with red rimmed eyes. One hand was on the back of his head while the other was on his back. Kurama just cuddled himself into her small stomach like a child and held tighter to her waist. Kagome just stroke his hair some more.

"I'm sorry, Kagome. I shouldn't hide things from you... me and Youko consider you... family. We're sorry. We'll try to be more true to our feelings, just for you... Imouto. We're sorry." he mumbled.

Kagome gripped his shoulder in understanding. Still smiling down at him she whispered, "That's all I want. I just want you to try... Onii-chan."

Kurama looked up at her once more before getting up full height. When he did Kagome dusted him off and smiled. Just as she was going to walk Kurama turned her around and hugged her. The miko wasn't expecting it so she stood still.

"Thank you, Kagome." he whispered in her ear.

With that he let go, only to grasp on to her hand and started to walk in the direction. There was a small smile on his face as he walked dragging Kagome along. Kagome smiled that at least she made someone happy, and she was getting a second chance at having a family in the feudal era. While they were walking Kurama looked back and smiled apologetically.

"I'm sorry, Kagome. I seemed to have gotten your... kimono… wet..." he slowed down noticing that she was wearing traditional miko clothes.

Kagome smiled. It wasn't something to be understood. This was just one of those things you would never get the answer to. It was something for Kagome to know and Kagome only.

Kurama smiled back wearily. Normally he knew the answers to most things, but somehow Kagome seemed to keep the answers from him. It wasn't even a full day and yet she knew more than he did. She knew what might be important and wouldn't let him know.

Kagome sent him a pointed look with her arms crossed over her chest and lifted an eye-brow. They just talked about this, and here he was again being irritated.

Kurama just lifted his hands in defense and laughed sheepishly. "I'm sorry Kagome, I just don't like _not_ knowing things." With that said he avoided her eyes and looked at his nails, as though inspecting them to see if they were dirty. He noticed that he did have some dirt under them. They seemed like the most important things at the time.

Kagome just sighed heavily, took his hand away from his gaze and began dragging him back towards the camp by the wrist. Her face held a dry look the whole way.

When they reached camp Kagome let go of his wrist as her children ran and clung to her calves. She smiled and pat them each on the head. Hiei sent Kurama a pointed look and just received a smile and a laugh in return.

'_/Fox, what did you do with the miko? Her clothing has changed.'_

'_Calm down Hiei, nothing happened. She just wanted to talk, that's all. Apparently I've been accepted as family. The clothing thing though is something that happened while she was crying.'_

'_Not just family, we've been accepted as her older brother. Her 'Onii-chan'. Oh! Don't worry she was just crying because we wouldn't tell her why we were upset at first, but we told her.'_ Youko gloated.

For a brief second Hiei's eyes widened with shock then became hostile before he retained his stoic mask.

'_Hn.'_

'_Don't worry Hiei, we won't take her from you. Just tell her how you feel.'_ Soothed Kurama.

'_That's none of your business fox.'_

'_We know Hiei, but if you don't hurry soon I think someone else will try to steal that golden heart of hers.'_

'. . .'

'_After all it is a treasure most would love to have for their own.'_ The silver fox explained.

With that Hiei closed their link and began to think to himself as he watched Kagome set up camp along with the rest of the group. She seemed like she belonged in the forest, Kagome. Her smile was bright and her eyes seemed to glow with happiness. She giggled every now and then, as did her children. He noticed a similarity in Kagome and Shen's laugh. . . they rang like silver bells. Kagome's was more of a melody though. It was soothing.

'_Kurama is right. . . she is a treasure most would love to have, myself included. But how could she love someone like me? Her laugh is a sweet melody that can take the edge off of the sharpest sword. If I ever want her to look at me in the light I see her. . . I don't know. I don't even deserve someone as her, I'd just taint her purity._

With all the thoughts flowing through his head he didn't notice that he had sighed aloud or that his face became softer. It looked more delicate and approachable. But it was his sigh that was carried on a soft wind and swept by Kagome's ear.

Kagome heard it and looked up at Hiei. It wasn't really until just now that she noticed how attracted she was to him. He seemed like a mixture of Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru. She never admitted out loud that she was indeed attracted to the taiyoukai. He seemed like a kind, but strict lord who knew his priorities and put his whole person into whatever needed to be done. Plus he was a great care-taker to watch over Rin. He acted the part of father very well, and he was strong. Of course Kagome would be attracted to a strong male.

But Hiei was like a mixture of the two brothers. He was stoic, like the lord. He didn't belong, like the hanyou, and he was handsome and strong like the two. He was deadly, but could be soft. He knew his priorities, he was honor bound.

Her thoughts drifted to when they jumped down the well.

'_His hand felt calloused from his sword, but his grip didn't hurt at all. Almost as though he was afraid of hurting me. . . breaking me. He was great with Shippo; he didn't lash out, lose his temper, or ignore him. If I didn't know better, I'd think Hiei cared about me. . . . Maybe even have feelings for me.'_ with the last part Kagome put her hand to her face and a light blush crept upon her.

Luckily for her the only people who seemed to notice this were Arashi and Kurama. Arashi tilted her head a bit as one of her ears twitched. This was very interesting to her, to watch a miko fall in love with a youkai. Kurama on the other hand smiled to himself. If things went right, the two would be together in no time. They seemed to fit each other if one asked him. They needed each other whether they knew it or not.

'_Red, Kagome does have feelings for Hiei!'_

'_I can see that Youko, but they both seem inexperienced in that category.'_

'_That just makes it all the better.'_

'_It's a matter if Hiei sees it or not.'_

'_If he doesn't we could tell him.'_

'_It's bad enough that we know he has feelings he refuses to express.'_

'_Then we can... push him in the right direction with a little help from another kitsune__.__'_

'_Youko, I don't think Kagome would like for her children to be involved with this.'_

'_Who said anything about a child? I was talking about the vixen that Kagome ran into while she was bathing.'_

'_Arashi?'_

'_She seems to have noticed Kagome's recent display of a wandering mind, while gazing at Hiei himself. Plus it would be lovely to spend some time with her, especially being that you're still a virgin in this body.'_

'_I refuse to let you bed a human.'_

'_You don't know what you're missing.'_

'_With the mental images you send me I can feel it as well and you know it.'_

'_I just try to help you when you're reaching a sexual frustration limit.'_

'_. . . .'_

'_So are we in agreement to do a side mission?'_

'_Apparently being that you've put it that way, I see you're set on it and I have no choice.'_

'_Good. We'll discuss things later in the night.'_

Arashi looked over and noticed for a brief second Kurama was gazing in her direction. She mentally smirked to herself. She knew he had some kitsune in him, she wasn't exactly sure how, but she knew.

'_He's not bad looking. That red hair of his looks just as good as a fresh silk kimono. Plus his eyes... are an emerald green. Typical for a kitsune to have jewel colored eyes. What's his name again... Kurama? ... sounds familiar__.__'_

Slowly she headed in Kurama's direction, making it look discreet by helping set up camp along the way. When she seemed to be working and putting full attention to checking the ground for things that would get in the way of a nice camp site, she bumped into him.

"Oops. Sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going." she started with a smile.

Kurama looked at her, he was taller than her now, but in Youko form he was sure he'd be much taller. She seemed about Kagome's height to him. He noticed her coming but decided to stay in the same place just to see what would happen.

"It's alright." he said to her with a small chuckle.

Arashi looked him in the eyes and blinked. Within that blink her special sapphire colored eyes held a small twinkle in them. Kurama looked at the twinkle and raised his eyebrows. He scanned her face for any hint of where she was going. The only thing he could really see though was her smile and the twinkle in her eyes. The smile was honest and the twinkle was mischievous.

What awaited him he wasn't sure, and it was because of that he wondered if he wanted to know. For all he knew she wanted him just as much as his fans did. He was hoping it wouldn't come to that. Of course Youko scoffed that a youkai would be so much like a human in that aspect. He was sure as a kitsune she would have more self-respect than that, and if she didn't... Youko almost shivered in slight disgust.

It was revolting to think a kitsune wouldn't have the respect for their own person. He would be damned if she didn't, but if she didn't then would gladly take over and put her in her place. A kitsune like her...

Kurama almost gasped at the images Youko was sending him. How Arashi should be and what he would do to her if she wasn't. He almost blushed at some of them. Thankfully he kept his face schooled so as not to worry her or let her know what he and Youko were thinking.

**End Chapter**


	9. Red Scarf

**The Red Scarf**

Kagome went around settling things around the camp. It was near dusk now; much of the daylight had been taken over for Kagome's story. She really didn't think it would take that much time to tell them. Then again to her it had been over seventy years… Still, she couldn't complain much. Many things had happened that was sure to help her more now than ever before. Of course she was still sad about Miroku and Sango, but she had decades to cope with their death and didn't take it as hard now.

Kagome had noticed the slight temperature drop in the air due to night coming. She looked around and saw almost everyone was fine. Of course she took more care to look over her children and saw them huddling under one of her blankets already talking and getting to know each other more. A smile lit her face at the sight, but then went away as soon as she saw one of them shivering.

Hiei was in a nearby tree and also took notice of this. Of course he saw them shivering as soon as the temperature dropped 5 degrees. Out of everyone he was the most alert and unbeknownst to anyone, he kept track of everyone's wellbeing. He didn't say anything though, just kept track of it. He was about to light the kindle they got but it would be pointless since the stars hadn't even come out yet.

The forbidden knew the celestial miko had noticed this as well.

He watched as she rummaged through her pack looking for something. He knew they would have to stop by a village soon to get Shen some clothes. No one had expected her, but he didn't know Kagome very well.

Kagome resurfaced from her over stuffed, oversized, pack with a small yip of glee. In her hand she held a small size of what seemed to be green little girl flannel pajamas. She called Shen over with a small smile.

Of course the small kitsune ran over to her mother, leaving her new brother under the blanket all by himself. Shippo had the blanket over his head like a shawl, his nose sticking out and his eyes blinking in wonder. He didn't expect Shen to leave that fast.

Arashi giggled at the scene while Kurama allowed himself a small chuckle. Shippo did look quite cute within the pastel blue blanket. Of course as soon as they were done with their little laugh they went back to planning things in the ancient kitsune language. Which of course the children understood, and infuriated the other members of the little group. Kagome only because she thought she should be able to understand because of her children. She understood other youkai languages, but kitsune always seemed to escape her grasp like trying to hold water.

"Yes Okaa-san?" Shen asked.

"I noticed you were cold sweetheart, here." she gave Shen the small flannel nightgown, "I brought this just in case. I didn't know I would be having you or who I would run into. I hope it fits. It's supposed to be one size fits all, but we know how that doesn't always work. So try this on."

Shen smiled and nodded, then went behind a tree to change clothes.

"Ano… Okaa-san? I think I need help." Shen called to her mother.

Kagome giggled and went to help her young kit.

She noticed that the young kitsune had managed to get her clothes off, but was beyond baffled of how to put this _thing_ on. She noticed how her small kitsune like ears were bent back, and a small teary pout was on her face.

"I don't know how to do this, Okaa-san." Shen said again, this time holding the small nightgown up to her mother.

Kagome giggled again and this time took the small nightgown from her.

"It's okay, Shen. Now lift up your arms so I can put this over your head." Kagome instructed.

Shen did just that. She stuck her hands up over her head and waited for her mother to dress her. She didn't question the celestial that was her mother.

Kagome carefully pulled the nightgown over her child's head. When she was done she smoothed out the wrinkles that were at the bottom.

"There", she said with a smile.

Kagome kissed the top of her daughter's head and folded up her discarded clothes that she left on the forest floor.

Shen thanked her mother and ran to where she left her older brother.

Everyone in the camp smiled knowingly at Shen. Shen just smiled back up at them. They knew Kagome was a capable mother at her age, and they all knew she was single. If they didn't know better, they would have thought Kagome did belong in this time period; a time where it was expected for her to have a child or 2, a time where it wasn't questioned about where the father was. For all the other people knew, he could have been killed in war. But then again she didn't, she was a celestial miko mother, to 2 youkai children. If she were left here alone, they were sure she would have been killed by humans, for she did not belong, and youkai would be after her looking either to mate, or eat her for her power.

Kagome went over and leaned on the tree she was behind, watching her children talk animatedly under the blanket once more.

"You are a fine mother for them."

Kagome looked up the tree she was leaning on. When she saw who it was she smiled brightly at them.

"Thanks, Hiei. That means so much."

Hiei just 'hn'ed and looked forward. He was sure the youkai in the area could hear his heart beat it was so loud in his ear. He glared down at the plotting kitsune. He knew they heard it, and he knew they were plotting something.

'_I'm not paranoid. I know exactly what I'm thinking. I know those damned kitsune are plotting something to do with Kagome. Them and their damn ancient language.'_ he thought while glaring at them.

Arashi nearly glared back, but knew since he would catch on decided not to. As much as she was hiding that she couldn't help but allow an arrogant smirk to cross her face.

'_He won't know what hit him when he realizes it'_, she thought joyously.

Kurama had to bite back a laugh. He knew what they were talking about usually went against what he usually did. But it was Kagome and Hiei, and they were two powerful beings who didn't have a clue on how to get closer to each other.

'_Totally worth it.'_

'_I agree with you on this, Youko.'_

'_Red! I think I'm rubbing off on you!'_ he thought practically prancing around with happiness in Kurama's mind.

Immediately Kurama regretted his choice of words. Youko just shot off talking a mile a minute. It was like talking to a native Spanish person. Once they had started, they never stopped. Kurama rubbed his temple to try to get the future coming migraine to not come at all.

Arashi thought it was her fault so she stopped talking and furrowed her eyebrows as her ears went down.

"Sorry.", she whispered.

She then left the kitsune to himself and went to go watch the children in a tree right above them. She didn't mean to annoy the other kitsune, really she didn't. She didn't even know she was getting on his nerves.

'_He could have at least told me.'_, she thought dejectedly.

Kagome noticed this and thought something was wrong. She looked at Kurama with questioning eyes. Kurama looked at her with hurt eyes and shrugged like a small child. Kagome nodded in understanding what was misunderstood.

She walked over and knocked on the trunk of Arashi's tree.

"Knock, knock." she said gently.

Arashi looked at Kagome then hopped out of the tree and stood in front of her. Her ears were still down and she still seemed hurt. Arashi threw her arms around Kagome and nuzzled her head in on her collar area. Kagome just softly petted her head and whispered assurances to the vixen. Arashi looked at Kagome with her bottom lip jutting out.

She looked like a puppy which had been kicked and was trying to get assurances from its master that it wouldn't happen again. Kagome just smiled lightly at the kitsune and kissed her forehead softly. After a few more whimpers and kisses, Arashi smiled lightly. Even though it didn't flash her pearly white fangs, nor reached her eyes.

The first of the stars had come into view as far as they could see past the blanket of leaves that was the canopy of the forest. Hiei had jumped down from his tree and arranged the kindle in a way to keep it burning longer. He then willed the top of the kindle to set aflame, and it obeyed his will. Then he motioned for the children to get closest to the flame.

"You mother would not want you to be cold." he stated.

Shen and Shippo looked at him with their big glimmering kitsune eyes and smiled at him thankfully.

"Thank you Hiei-sama." Shen said at first.

Hiei rose one of his eyebrows at being called 'Hiei-sama'. No one had ever called him that before, and he knew that the child was just being well mannered as she was taught. Hiei looked and nodded to her with a light 'hn' to show he acknowledged her.

The children scuttled closer to the fire, but not so close where they would be caught on fire. Their toes became warm as the cold also left their noses. They smiled and laughed lightly at each other.

Kagome caught this and smiled softly. But she also saw, that as everyone else went to gather around the fire, Hiei just went back to his tree. Kagome went back into her pack as the boys helped themselves to making ramen for everyone.

Everyone knew she was looking for something, but didn't know what yet. Still she rummaged as though she wasn't being watched and went to what seemed to be the bottom of her pack. When she found what she wanted she smiled victoriously. She quickly put it in a place within her kimono.

She then went and walked over to the tree Hiei was in. She started to climb said tree until she made it to his branch. Hiei was indeed shocked, since he took the branch that was as steady as could be while at the same time high and farthest away from the rag-tag group. She climbed all the way up for him.

Kagome reached into her kimono and pulled out something that was red. Hiei didn't know what it was at first. Kagome moved to get closer to the hybrid. Hiei just sat there and watched her, but she returned his staring with a smile.

"I thought it might be cold up here, so I brought you a scarf." she said and held it up for him to see.

"I can't reach you, so can you lean this way so I can put it on you?" she asked gently.

Her kindness was a shock to Hiei. Still he leaned her way so she could wrap it securely around his neck. It wasn't tight, yet not too loose. He didn't really need it, but it would be more than rude to just turn her away. She did after all climb a great height just to be sure he was warm.

Her skin touched his a few times. She was nearly amazed to find it warm. So when she was done she placed her hand on his face gently.

"Sleep well Hiei-kun.", she said.

Kagome leaned in closer and kissed him on the cheek. When she pulled back she smiled but was blushing brightly. Hiei also had a small blush on his face, but nodded his thanks and acknowledgement.

Kagome then tried to start with her task of getting down from the tree. She looked this way and that but couldn't find the right way to get down from the tree safely.

Without a word Hiei grabbed her gently by the waist and dropped to the forest floor. He planted her softly on her feet and jumped back up to his previous position. Kagome's blush grew further; she tried to hide it looking the opposite way of her new friends and children. But it was obvious with the way she held her face just standing there.

No one said anything though just shared knowing smiles, and for once Yusuke and Kuwabara weren't fighting. They just grinned like Cheshire cats over their cups of ramen.

"Kagome-chan, if you don't come over here your food will get cold." Arashi called over.

Kagome scurried to get her food with thanks and slurped her noodles with a dazed expression on her face. Shippo and Shen noticed this of course.

"Okaa-san, do you like Hiei-sama?" Shen asked curiously.

That snapped Kagome out and her face turned as red as a cherry.

"W-what!?" she stuttered.

"Shen asked if you like Hiei, Okaa-san.", Shippo repeated, also curious.

Kagome giggled nervously. Arashi spoke up for her though.

"Oh you two, leave you mother alone. Look at how red you've made her face. Things like whom she likes though shouldn't be discussed in front of the person who has received her affections." Arashi said with a small foxy smile. She knew she wasn't really helping the miko out. Kagome tried to hide in her hands, while some of the other youkai saw Hiei's face match the red scarf that Kagome had just given him.

"Yeah. As if your mom would want to talk about those things while he's up in the tree right above her." Yusuke said with a large grin.

Kurama chuckled lightly at his imouto's predicament. He moved over and lightly patted her back. "Am I that obvious?" she squeaked out to him. Kurama laughed a bit more at the young miko under his arm. "I'm sorry imouto, but I'm afraid you are." he said with a small smile.

Kagome groaned lightly. She also spoke words incoherently. Kurama just chuckled more at her.

Kagome glared half-heartedly at the kitsune closest to her at the moment. Unfortunately for Kurama, he was that kitsune.

"I'm sure if you ask, Hiei would be glad to share his tree with you." he said trying to cheer her up.

"But I want to sleep with Okaa-san!" two smaller kitsune chorused with a pout.

They ran over and nuzzled themselves in Kagome's lap so she wouldn't have a choice but to sleep with them. Kagome ran her hands over the tops of their heads to assure them. Shen however did more and got herself into the kimono of her mother. She placed her head neat her heart so she would sleep without nightmares. She was soon followed by her older brother. Kagome's mother instincts kicked in and she didn't move from her place.

Arashi smiled at her predicament and closed her Kimono for her, securing the two kitsune in place. Kurama also helped by putting a blanket over them.

"Thanks guys." she whispered to them.

"No thanks needed, Kagome-sama. You just keep those two happy." Arashi replied.

Soon things died down and most of everyone went to sleep.

The one with red orbs for eyes watched them all fall asleep, but he also noticed that the one who was quickly overwhelming him was uncomfortable. The children didn't give her a chance to get comfortable herself. So he jumped from his tree and sat behind her, pulled her to lie on his chest without disturbing the two listening to the sound of her heartbeat as their night music.

Kagome was quiet, but had a feeling of who it was. "Ano, Hiei?" she whispered softly. She felt him nod curtly. As soon as she was sure it was him she started to drift back into sleep. He watched as she drifted into a more peaceful sleep than before. Unable to help himself he ran his fingers lightly through her hair.

What had he gotten himself into? If only he had died when they threw him off the island he wouldn't be in this position. Would she have been the one to greet him and accept him warmly? He knocked that thought out of his head as fast as it came.

If anything he could expand his feelings for her more, he now knew she at least liked him, but… to what extent.

'_Enough to sleep on your chest and be comfortable.' _He cracked himself a small smile.

She must trust him if she allowed this. She didn't seem the sleazy type to him, no matter what her choice of clothing was.

For the rest of the night Hiei went back and forth between the good things about her, and how she could like him. To reasons of why he shouldn't allow her to like him, even if he (now) admitted he liked her back.

'_I'll get some form of present… a courting gift. I'll show her I can be something to her.'_ he thought to himself.

Sometime after she went to sleep he was sure to leave her in a comfortable position before anyone else woke up and caught him.

He wasn't hiding from them. No! He just didn't want to suffer from their insane chattering that would make him want to shove his own sword through his head. Even though he would cut out their tongues before he did so. At the same time he didn't want to suffer the Reikai prison cell and listen to the bumbling idiots who worked there for the rest of his life.

He nodded his head and accepted that. Hiei Jaganshi was not afraid of a bunch of people who called themselves a team, or at least he kept telling himself.

**End Chapter**


	10. What Do Girls Like?

**What do girls like?**

Hiei jumped from tree to tree thinking swiftly. He had about 6 hours until dawn came upon them. And even then he had to be sure to be at camp before that to get at least an hour's worth of rest. He may be a youkai, but even he needed rest while dealing with all of them. Plus to be alert all of the time was a little taxing. He was only one male, and almost everyone around him was lacking in one way or another.

Yusuke was quick to action and loud. Hiei didn't mind the quick to action, it was more along the lines of the loud. He usually gave their position away and made what could have been quick, long and unnecessary.

Kurama tolerated them to a point that annoyed him. He didn't tell them what to do or how to do it unless it was crucial. It was quite sad for his brilliant mind really. To take all the abuse on his enhanced hearing. Plus the annoyance of Youko being bored and never shutting up.

As for Kuwabara… He liked the forbidden one's sister. That in itself just demanded an automatic "I have to kill you" reaction. His sister was off limits to all buffoons; especially to ones who have a ridiculous 'red pinky string of love'. Every time Hiei heard it gave him what humans called 'heart burn'. All he had to do was cut him up and burn the pieces, then claim it was some other demon. He would have if it wasn't for the fact that his sister seemed to be enjoying the kind attention the human gave her.

As for the others, he wasn't quite sure yet. But he already knew it wouldn't be very long until he tired of them. Well, all except for Kagome and her children. Kagome was something that he couldn't yet fully describe, but he knew his soul was pulling in her direction whenever she looked him in the eye. At first he thought it had something to do with special powers that were trying to steal his soul. Then he looked in deeper into it and realized his soul wanted to be with its other half; a soul mate in other terms. Her kids would have to be loved one way or another. Kagome loved them, they were kitsune, and later would be as what humans called 'step-father' to them. Of course knowing how things would play out, he would adopt them and make them his and remedy that.

Hiei could already tell that if he were to try to get rid of them and replace them with his own, or even think about it, Kagome would kill him herself. He knew she was fiercely protective of her children, as every mother was. He would be a fool to think otherwise, even his own mother tried to protect him. True, she failed in a sense, but with how Yukina was raised, he knew she did the best she could. He had no ill will toward his mother for loving, he even had proof she loved him enough to cry their kind's precious tears for him.

!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!

It had been about 2 hours since he had left the camp. He knew where he was, and where he was going. Hiei was looking for a place he had been to only once. It was a special area where he buried all the tears he cried thinking they were a sign of weakness. He knew it was okay to take them, because he knew his own actions. He never came back, always avoiding the area so no one could connect him to it.

But here he was, a full grown youkai, going back to collect them all. It was one of the very few physical signs that he was part koorime. When he cried, his tears became gem stones. Of course since he was a male they were a different color than his sister's and the rest of the koorime's. His were a teal color, which he found odd.

There was a soft tap as his boot clad feet hit the soft packed dirt. The area was plain and simple, many trees and a small stream 100 meters away. There were patches of grass here and there, almost as though it was often traveled on. But from the smell of it, only animals and youkai had been in the area.

He wasted no time though in digging up the earth to reach what was his. 2 meters deep into the ground he found what he was looking for. In the dirt there was a stained cotton pouch lying innocently looking forgotten. Hiei picked it up and opened the pouch pouring a few of the teal colored gems into his hand.

Hiei looked at them for a few seconds before calling fire into his palm, slightly melting the gems. He took the melted pieces and molded them into a flower petal. The hybrid did this a few times before he had enough petals to make a rose. He took the remainder of the gems and melted them, molding them into a curved stem. He took all of the molded pieces and focused on putting them together without turning it into a butch job.

1 hour and 45 minutes later Hiei had finished his project and dipped it into a nearby steam so it could cool down. It had taken the forbidden child quite some time to his standards, but the result was beautiful. In his hand was a finely crafted teal rose, necklace. Hiei was hoped desperately that Kagome would accept it. He hoped that he would be able to give it to her during the next stop on their journey.

He then gently put it in his shirt under his cloak before placing all the dirt back where it once was. Checking that everything looked as it had before he left, Hiei took back to the tree branches and headed back towards camp. With every step his stomach attained more butterflies and a very light blush snuck onto his face.

!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!

He arrived back at camp in the same amount of time it took him to get to his destination. The tap of his feet made 2 pairs of ears twitch in his direction. He silently slid back into his sitting-sleeping position and looked down at the woman he was going to ask to court. He smiled softly to himself and closed his eyes allowing himself a light rest.

Hours later when the sun peeked from the east allowing small bits of light to filter through the sky, Hiei opened his eyes and noticed that the woman he was so fond of was not where he had last seen her. He didn't panic though since her scent was still within the area. He turned his head slightly and saw her cooking for everyone. It seemed as though she had packed rice into her over-sized bag and from the smell of it, some seasonings to go with it.

Hiei soon felt the butterflies return to his stomach when she looked up and smiled at him. Of course Hiei just nodded, not wanting to ruin the peace that was in the camp for the time being.

After the food was made, Kagome gently woke every one up from their slumber and handed them a bowl of rice and some chopsticks. Every one accepted with minor problems, happy that food was brought to them. There were soft murmurings, and it was plainly obvious that most of those were still half asleep. The miko looked up and held a bowl of rice for the forbidden child that had captured her heart and didn't even know it. It made her smile wider when he came down and accepted the food with a slight bow of his head.

He softly brushed his fingers against hers while grabbing the bowl and leaned in close.

"I would like to speak with you later."

With that said, he jumped back up in his chosen tree. Kagome's face held some color and her heart was beating rather fast. All she could do was nod, even though she knew he wasn't in front of her anymore.

After breakfast every one gathered their belongings, helped clean up, and began walking once more. It wasn't an awkward silence being that everyone was still tired, not long though the group was as lively as ever. Even Shen was chattering away about things that children do. Kagome was enjoying herself, holding Shen's hand while Shippo was on her shoulder, listening and conversing with her children. Her aura showed of someone who was content, and her eyes shone brightly like everyone had seen in the pictures. Shippo's aura however was still laced with grief and sadness, but also had a tinge of hope in there. It wasn't bad enough that everyone was feeling it, but Kagome knew her first kit.

She hoped that talking with her and Shen would lessen that and help him get over their friends' deaths. Slowly it was working, but she, as did everyone else, knew that it would take time. She wouldn't fight that, she herself had more than time to grieve and accept it with a light heart while he did not.

The day went by with minor problems, a few lower youkai that were easily taken care of by an enthusiastic Yusuke. That had left him in a bright mood for the next few hours as they continued to walk. By noon they stopped for a lunch break, which was quickly prepared by Kagome and passed out with the help of Arashi and her kits. They all ate; light conversation went all around and left a smile on nearly everyone's face.

When Kagome was finished with her meal she looked over at Hiei. She had felt his gaze on her throughout the whole day; it made her shiver with sinful delight. She watched him land gracefully on the ground and began walking in some direction; she quickly rose and followed him. She looked over her shoulder and sent a smile to her new comrades to make them at ease.

When she caught up with him she realized that she was alone with him. A blush crept upon her face and burned brightly. Hiei noticed this and a light blush also crept on to his cheeks. When he was sure they were far enough that the others wouldn't hear him he stopped and turned to face her. Kagome stood in place and looked at him, her hands playing with the hem of her shirt.

"You said you wanted to talk?" she asked quietly. Hiei nodded and looked at her softly.

"Kagome," He reached into his shirt and pulled out the gift he made, "will you allow me to court you?" His eyes bore into hers watching her every move and reaction.

Her breath hitched into her throat and her hands rose to her heart. She knew what this meant; Midoriko had discussed this with her so she may have a better idea on what to go on when Shen was older. Shen already knew a few things, but she was still very young, at least in demon's equivalent human years. So it they figured it would be best if Kagome knew what to do when the time came.

She looked at the gift he presented to her, then at Hiei himself. She didn't trust her voice at the moment and nodded. She stepped closer to the hybrid and embraced him. Hiei slowly embraced her back and breathed in her calming scent. It all seemed so surreal to both of them. Neither had thought of ever having a mate. Hiei thought the moment would never occur in his life while Kagome never thought it could happen after Inuyasha.

Soon, though the hug ended, from Hiei's end. He lifted the gift up so she could see that it was indeed a necklace, shorter than the one she wore to keep the shikon with her. Kagome smiled and nodded at the silent request. She turned around and lifted her hair up, allowing him to place the necklace on her neck. She felt his hands gently go over her skin and heard a small snap signaling that the piece of jewelry was on securely. When he let go, the rose gently fell just pass the hollow of her throat. It was light and small, not bothering her in the slightest.

Kagome looked down and touched it, admiring it and its beauty. She opened her mouth to thank him, but Hiei spoke before she did.

"It was made last night… from my tears. I buried them in a few years ago from this time period feeling that emotions were a weakness. I've seen how strong emotions can make beings… I'm… glad I've grown feelings for you."

His words were barely above a whisper, but Kagome had heard him perfectly. Her hand left the rose and went to his face. She held it there and pulled her face close to his and let her lips softly touch his. Hiei allowed this and kissed back just as softly, feeling that if he did anything more it may break her.

"Thank you, Hiei. I love it."

Her face glowed brightly and she let her hand fall only to grab his and lead them back to the others. Hiei allowed this and smiled softly following his intended.

Kagome walked slowly, feeling the warmth of his hand warm her whole body. She was very happy that Hiei had asked to court her, and her emotions were on a big display in her aura and her face. She only hoped that nothing bad would happen to him on this journey that was her mission, and now his.

When they arrived back to regroup with the others, they all congratulated them. Even Kuwabara was happy for them, feeling the amount of joy in Kagome's aura. Shippo and Shen ran circles around their feet while Kurama and Arashi smiled from where they were sitting. Arashi was a little upset that she wouldn't be able to put her and Kurama's plans into action, but was still happy all the same. The Shikon Miko's aura was bright and calming to everyone in the vicinity; even the plants around them seemed to be a little greener than it had been when she left.

Once again they packed and began moving, a blush stained on the miko's face. They were heading west, an area that she had not bothered trying to find the shikon shards in. She knew that it was Sesshomaru's lands, and because of the bad blood between him and Inuyasha it wasn't even an option to travel there. But things were different now, and hopefully Sesshomaru wouldn't be so brash about things, if he was there.

She knew that he was also in search of the foul hanyou named Naraku, but was still a taiyoukai with duties. She wouldn't put it up pass him to have found a near perfect balance between the two. Still she had a slight bad feeling in her stomach as they continued to their path to into the west.

By nightfall they had set up camp near a hot spring. Everyone, especially Kagome was happy about this. Walking all day made her sweat, and she was happy about any kind of body of water to wash the dirt away.

It was obvious that the females had the hot spring first. Arashi declined though, since she had washed yesterday and didn't really do anything today. Kagome nodded in understanding, Sango would also do this when she was alive. But it was also because youkai didn't sweat as easily as humans that they were cleaner than humans. Still, she gathered her two kits, washing materials, and made her way to the hot spring. After they were all undressed and in the water, they splashed around a bit. Laughter was heard all around from the trio in the springs.

Soon however there was a slight rustling heard from the side. They all looked over and saw a little girl emerge with her own bathing supplies. She was looking down humming and skipping, oblivious to those around her. Kagome looked at her and stared, trying to figure out who it was. She seemed familiar, but she couldn't figure it out.

It wasn't until the girl lifted her head up, and her little pony tail stood up that Kagome recognized her. It was Rin, Sesshomaru's young human ward. She knew that Rin was no threat to her or her kin, but she knew that with her here that must mean that Sesshomaru must be as well.

Rin's eyes widened when she noticed that there were others in the spring.

"Kagome-chan! Shippo-kun!" At least Rin recognized the two she had met before.

Kagome nodded and smiled at the young girl.

"Hi Rin, would you like to bathe with us? We wouldn't mind the extra company." Kagome said assuring the young girl.

Rin just smiled and nodded her thanks before undressed and getting into the spring herself.

Again there was soft rustling, but Rin didn't look unnerved by it. Within moments Sesshomaru himself stepped into the clearing and looked at the occupants of the water.

"Sesshomaru," Kagome whispered to no one in particular.

The taiyoukai sent a cold glare to the female who spoke his name.

"Miko, what are you doing in my lands?" Sesshomaru said coldly.

**End Chapter**


	11. The Checkered Kimono

**The Checkered Kimono**

Kagome stared at the taiyoukai, opening and closing her mouth with no words coming out due to shock. Only her face darkening with blood every passing second gave a sign she was aware of what was happening. The fact that she was there in nothing to hide her modesty aside from the water. The miko quickly used her arms to cover her chest, aware that the water was hiding everything else. Granted night had indeed fallen, but she knew youkai eyesight was better than humans and helped them see in the dark, some species better than others.

Shippo froze as was always his reaction at the taiyoukai's appearance. Shen however slunk to hide behind her mother. While they may have trained together, Shen knew she was far out-ranked compared to this taiyoukai and sought her mother's protection. Kagome unconsciously shifted closer to Shen and allowed her aura to wash over her kits in a soothing manner.

Sesshomaru lifted his eyebrow into a perfect arch at the miko with a stare only he could conjure.

"I will not repeat myself miko," the taiyoukai warned.

"I was j-just bathing! Is that some sort of high crime? To be clean!?" she squeaked in an indignant manner, her sharp temper starting to get the better of the young woman. Before she could continue she was cut off.

"Rin is sorry Sesshomaru-sama! Lady Kagome and Shippo-san were here before Rin." She exclaimed.

Rin quickly bowed in the water while baring her neck to him while avoiding eye contact, her nose only centimeters from the water.

Sesshomaru heard what she had said and acknowledged the small girl.

"Lady Kagome said she could bathe with her, Shippo-san, and the other kitsune. Rin is sorry Sesshomaru-sama." She continued.

The youkai lord spared his young ward a glance and nodded to show his acknowledgement and approval of her actions.

"After you are finished bathing be sure to return to camp. Miko you are permitted to finish bathing. At dawn I shall appear in your camp to discuss your sudden appearance on my lands." He said in his normal monotone voice, leaving just past the trees he had come through.

"That was… interesting." The miko murmured, relaxing slightly and standing up. Shippo nodded in agreement looking to where the western prince took his leave.

"Lord Sesshomaru had agreed to take Rin on more of his journeys on her word if she used the lessons given to her by her private tutors." She said with a small smile.

Kagome looked at the small girl with widened eyes or surprise. She wasn't sure of the relationship between the girl and taiyoukai. She thought he kept her around as a pet; or something else of lower stature due to his supposed hatred of humans, and wouldn't see to her education. At the same time she noticed not only had the young girl spoken in a manner only to be seen in court, but also acted in the way of youkai society. Things she had learned from her own family being brought up on a shrine, as well as Sango and Midoriko. Granted she told her new traveling companions of her training, but didn't think it was important to tell them of the extra education she had been given while in the hot springs of her dreamscape with the older miko.

"Sesshomaru has private tutors teach you?" she couldn't help but ask.

"Hai. Sesshomaru-sama has them teach Rin lots of things. She learns manners and speaking of court, reading, calligraphy, how to properly hold and be part of a tea ceremony, how to hunt, fend for myself, and manage a household." The young girl easily replied.

"Wow! Really!? Okaa-san do you know how to do all of that?" Shippo eagerly asked looking up at his mother with two fists trying to conceal his excitement.

Kagome blushed at the sudden attention of 3 children. Shen had kept close to Kagome even after Sesshomaru left, mostly since she didn't know Rin, but she was still listening and trying not to be rude. Rin looked at her with bright hopeful eyes and a smile that fit perfectly on her face.

"Yes I do. It took me a while to get it all, but it always stuck with me." She said softly with a soft secretive smile on her lips.

"Rin still has trouble with most of it, but Sesshomaru-sama says she makes progress every day." She said proudly, her eyes couldn't help but keep shifting to the form similar to her height near Kagome's hip. "What about you?" She asked looking at the kit as best as she could.

Shen blushed brilliantly knowing she was being spoken to. "I know how to hunt, fight, and read… I… I know my calligraphy; Obaa-chan and Okaa-san taught me. I'm still learning the ways of court; I know little of tea ceremony and even less of how to care for a home. I know how to care for a family though. I would be most honored if, with Okaa-san's permission, you would teach me what you know Rin-san… wasn't it Rin-san?" Her voice was soft, but still held a bell like quality to it.

Rin nodded eagerly. "Rin is Rin. Rin doesn't know your name though." She stated and tilted her head to the side in a cute manner.

"This is my daughter Shen, Rin." Kagome answered for her silver kit. She placed her hand onto her kit's back and lightly guided her away from her side to present her to Rin.

"Shen?" She whispered quietly.

"Hai, I am called Shen. Okaa-san, named me that." She stated. Her ears were flat with her shyness as her face held a small red flame on its cheeks and over the bridge of her nose.

"Shen is a very pretty name. Rin would be happy to teach you what she knows as long as Sesshoumaru-sama approves. And Rin likes your hair. It is silver like Sesshomaru-sama's." Rin's face stretched more with the grin that grew on it.

Shen smiled brightly at the compliments even though her blush stayed true.

"I think Rin is a pretty name too." The kit said in return.

Kagome smiled at the two and sunk into the water to begin her bathing ritual. She soaked for a bit then got out to wash. After seeing what she was doing Shen and Shippo both quickly followed suit and got on land with their mother to scrub the dirt from their skin. Rin watched fascinated by the two kitsune who followed their mother around and felt a soft pang in her own heart. She knew she had Sesshomaru and Jaken even Ah-Un, but none of them could give them the attention Kagome was giving the two kitsune. Rin knew what her little family was like and knew that it was missing something; however she didn't know what she was missing until just now.

Rin knew she didn't know the ways of being a woman other than what was expected at court. She had tutors for that. However, none of them took the time to study humans to know what was best for _her_. None of them took the time to be a role-model for her… no one took the time to be her mother… Sadness slowly started to creep into the depths of her eyes. But she quickly shook it away and climbed out after them.

Rin watched as Kagome washed herself with the strange soaps, then take a bucket and splash water over herself. She then proceeded to do the same with Shen and Shippo. She scrubbed Shippo's skin first, then Shen's, after she grabbed another bottle of the strange soap and used it on their fur and hair. Rin watched as Kagome threaded her fingers through their hair in what could be seen as soothing. Both kitsune smiled and purred under her ministrations. When she was done, she had both of them close their eyes as she poured water over them and rinsed all the soap out. After they stood up and were dried off top to bottom.

Rin softly chewed on her lip reaching down for courage she felt she needed. She had no problem living with her family, had no problem meeting new youkai or learning their ways, but after her family had died she hadn't talked to another human besides Kagome and her companions. Still if she wanted anything right now, she wanted to have a semblance of a mother's attention on her. So she took a deep calming breath and walked over the miko and young kitsune.

"Kagome-chan? … Will you also wash Rin's hair for her?" Rin clutched her small water bucket as though her life depended on it, waiting for Kagome's answer.

Kagome looked up at the small girl with a small look of surprise. It took her a few seconds to realize the girl was waiting for an answer.

"Of course, Rin! I would be happy to."

Rin smiled as relief ran through her like the coolness of sitting under a waterfall, and walked over to the miko and sat in front of her as she had watched the kitsune do. Kagome smiled at Rin and proceeded to perform a task that was second nature to her.

Rin smiled and relaxed under soothing fingers. It felt as though magic were being massaged into her body through her head. Rin felt as though she were becoming a puddle and understood the purring of the kitsune. She herself felt a little tickle at the back of her throat and it took a moment to realize she was _purring_. Or what could be considered purring among the human kind.

Kagome smiled at the "purring" child in her hands. She continued to massage the shampoo in Rin's hair just a little while longer, not knowing when the next time would be that Rin would receive the amount of attention and love she was getting at that moment.

"Rin-chan, I need you to close your eyes now."

Rin was unsure how long she had been under the ministrations of Kagome's fingers, but felt it had stopped sooner than she would have liked. However she still did what was required of her. Soon she felt wash splash over her until she was sure the strange soap was no longer in her hair.

"There, all done now, Rin." Were the soft words that caressed Rin's ear. The soft hands on her shoulders were just as comforting as having Sesshoumaru pat her head in approval. Rin smiled softly as happiness glowed in her heart.

Rin stood and was abruptly covered in a strange cloth, but could tell it had the same purpose as her drying cloth. She let Kagome dry her off in the manner she had seen done with Shen and Shippo. When that was done Rin thanked Kagome and left to don her faithful checkered kimono on the other side of the hot spring.

As soon as she was done, she noticed Kagome was wearing odd sleeping clothes, as were her kits.

"Kagome-chan, what are those?" she said pointing at the young woman's clothing.

"They're called pajamas. They're sleeping wear from my villiage." She said smoothly.

Kagome couldn't help but notice Rin always wore the same kimono whenever they crossed paths.

"Rin,... why do you always wear the same kimono? Surely Lord Sessoumaru has had many made for you since it is inappropriate for court."

Rin's eyes dilated for a quick moment like a deer in headlights before fixing them upon the ground.

"It is the last thing Rin has to remember her family before she met Sessoumaru-sama. They were killed by a bandit and Rin was alone."

The girl shuffled self-consciously for a few moments hating the silence that blanketed them.

"I see. I'm sorry for asking Rin-chan. I'm glad you found Sesshoumaru-sama. We are heading back to camp now, and would like to know that you were safe on your way back. Alright?"

"Hai, Kagome-chan."

Rin started gathering her belongings and making sure she didn't leave anything behind. Her back was turned to the group, expecting them to leave as soon as she replied that she had heard what was said. She was entirely shocked when she felt someone her height, hug her.

"I hope your journey to camp is a safe one, Rin-chan. I can't wait to see you when the sun shall claim its dawn." Shen said softly.

With that Shen ran to her mother's side and grabbed her hand. She looked to the ground to try to hide her face, but it was apparent that her face was lit ablaze with a mighty blush. She did look up however through shy lashes, stealing glances of Rin. They all smiled at Rin, said their good-byes, and left as soon as Rin started heading her way towards camp.

Upon returning to their own camp Kagome let her companions know about the unsuspected meeting with Sesshoumaru and let them know what would not be acceptable due to his status and their being on _his_ land. She also informed them of the engagement they were to have with him at dawn and who, and what, to expect.

They didn't have to like it, but they _did_ have to show him respect that he deserved on his own land. She let it known that she would not tolerate disrespect in this meeting; that included subtle disrespect. If they did, she would no longer agree to travel with them and leave on her own after taking them back to the future. She ended her announcement with:

"I am alpha of this pack. You will adhere to my commands if you wish to be part of, or travel with, my pack. There are not many laws, I believe in equal treatment; _however_ I will _not_ be made a fool of in affairs such as this. Is that clear?"

She got nods from all the heads, a few hesitant at first, in their clearing. With that settled she set out to make dinner for her group and her kits before going to sleep with them, Hiei in the tree above her.

Come dawn there would be tension, of that they were sure.

**End Chapter**

Thank you for all the reviews, faves, and alerts. Every one of them helped me with my desire to write more. Granted I had about a page or 2 written before I just stopped due to the lack of interest from everyone else. But with all the recent, and not to recent reviews, I was inspired to write this again. Not for me, but for you, the readers.

I'm sorry for not updating this sooner, I really truly am. I've just been so busy with life. I'm starting college, was having family/home problems, and now things are starting to calm down. I would write a paragraph or so every few weeks when I got the chance, but it just wasn't enough, and for that I'm sorry. I'm so thankful for those of you who've stuck with the story for this long. I haven't abandoned it, this I promise you.

Those who write me the long reviews, you are amazing and very loved, I brag about you to my other half. Everyone who has reviewed, I do have your reviews saved (since I get them via email), the keep me going.

I'm currently working on editing all my chapters (for those who haven't noticed). I started this fic when I was 13, and I want to improve it from start to finish. So look out for updates in the chapters.

Thank you so much for sticking with me this long!

~ _Angeltsuki_


	12. Authors Note! Important!

If you care please copy, sign and post this.

Petition:

I, along with many, have been writing and posting on your fine site for years now, some of the better examples of up and coming writers out there are are now suddenly finding some of the stories we've come to love at risk of being removed without the chance to even rectify our errors.

For some, that means the permanent loss of a story. While I don't have anything that (I believe) violates your terms of use, there are those out there that are never able to recover a story in it's original form, this is something I find to be almost worthy of a legal action, as while we cannot claim ownership of a character, the stories are OURS and simply destroying them is something that is inexcusable.

It's quite easy to simply add an MA rating, additional filters or even a simple requirement for a free membership to read the stories presented here, and would cut down on hateful anonymous reviews and posts at the same time, so I have to question as to why such a thing, in all this time, simply wasn't added.

If you're worried about falsification of a registration then have an appropriate disclaimer and then there can be no dispute, you took your steps and the PARENTS didn't monitor their children, if that is even your concern. If it is more of a personal view or desire then please at least let people know and give them a chance to remove a story that you and yours find offensive, most people on the site are actually rather cordial when it comes to such requests.

While I cannot say for sure if this letter will even reach those that may be willing to listen, of if it's more akin to a wide spectrum purge in preparation for something bigger, please understand that you are going to be losing a LARGE number of your writers, and thus your income from a lack of readers if there is not some level of action taken to help with this situation.

For those that may agree with this, please feel free to sign on and send this to the support server, maybe we can get some movement on this.

forum. fanfiction topic/111772/63683250/1/#63698621

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Angeltsuki


	13. Dealings Between Packs

**Dealings Between Packs**

Dawn quickly crept upon the group, and yet the miko was aware and already had her kits dressed and presentable as the sun was slowly rising. She went around the camp to rouse her companions from their slumber and made sure they were awake enough to behave as they had agreed to. The only one who was awake without her needing to wake them was Hiei.

They all went about making a brisk meal and ate in comfortable, lazy, silence. After their meal was cleaned up Kagome arranged how they should sit while speaking with the demon lord. She knew her seating would be seen as a little confusing to those of this time, but with how things were run in her group they would quickly see the ranks.

To her right and three feet behind sat her intended, Hiei. To her left and only a foot behind sat her kits. Four feet sitting to her right sat Yusuke and Kuwabara. To the left, same distance sat Arashi and Kurama. It showed that they were indeed part of her pack, but showed their relations. To the right side of her sat her intended and her companions that were respected warriors. To her left was family, more fiercely protected, but served as a warning as well. The warning was to not harm or let harm come to them, or she would rightfully be able to claim their head as payment.

They all sat in a formal stance, a seiza, only Yusuke seemed to have trouble with it, but he tried as he agreed. All of them wore a passive expression, one of calm and understanding. They knew the talk ahead of them was important and required to continue their task.

They didn't have to wait long. As soon as the sun rose a little higher, casting more definable shadows from the trees did Sesshomaru appear in their line of sight. To his left and a foot behind was Rin, with her head held high. Further back and about a foot further left was Jaken holding Ah-Un's reins. Their pace was steady and sure.

When they were in Kagome's sight she allowed a small peaceful smile to grace her lips. The girl by Sesshomaru's side broke out into a grin as soon as she saw the miko. Jaken was seen muttering under his breath as usual when it came to Kagome.

When there was a meter of distance between the miko and the demon lord, the miko nodded her head in deference. Sesshomaru nodded his head in turn, his face a mask void of emotion.

"Lord Sesshomaru, thank you for having this audience with me. Won't you please sit? We have much to discuss", came an even musical voice from the young celestial.

Sesshomaru gracefully sank into his own seiza followed by Rin and Jaken. Ah-Un looked at the others before settling down. Rin's face was curious as she looked at Kagome's entourage, only recognizing 3 of them.

"Where is my half-brother?"

The question came out with a tone of curiosity that belied his blank face.

"I don't know. He is most likely with Kikyo." She replied.

"The dead one?"

"Yes, Lord Sesshomaru."

"Has he made your misfit group disband? I have not caught wind of the houshi or tajiya's scent."

"No. Inuyasha left for my incarnate and killed them."

"The fool. Why are you still here and why do you continue your quest for the shards?"

This time he sounded disinterested. However Kagome was able to see the intensity in his golden eyes.

"I have a duty to the jewel."

"Why do you journey into my lands?"

"In search for jewel shards. Your lands are one of the few places I have yet to search."

Sesshomaru was quiet for some time thinking about what she said. He thought about all the implications, propositions, and consequences. Throughout whole while he stared into Kagome's face, learning her scent and those who traveled with her. He examined each one thought his eyes never left hers.

"Your pack adheres to your laws and commands?", he asked in his baritone voice.

"Hai. They are strong, good to their word, and do what is asked of them."

"Rin has spoken of your daughter. She is of your blood, yet you remain pure. Who is her sire?"

Shen blushed deeply at being brought up in this important conversation between alphas. Her ears folded close against her head. Her actions showed that she was shamed to not have been born like most beings were. She shuffled uncomfortably.

"She has no sire. I bore her alone. She was born from my inner power."

"She is full blooded youkai." He stated; it wasn't a question.

"Hai." She responded.

"Your halfbreed, his elements are forbidden to coincide, or so they claim. Relations between the two are forbidden and all offspring are killed. He survived or was an exception?"

A few eyes shifted over to Hiei. Sesshomaru's however stayed true fixated on the one he was speaking with. Kagome's eyes slid over to her intended allowing him to speak for himself.

"I survived." Was all that passed through his lips.

Sesshomaru allowed himself a small smile, showing some of his teeth.

"Your intended was born strong." He praised.

Kagome smiled softly and nodded.

"As is demon law, you are aware your pack is a sub division of my clan due to interactions and becoming pack with my half-brother?"

"Yes, I am aware. I am alpha of this pack, but my pack will defer to you should I fail my duties as an alpha."

The humans in her group were surprised of this hearing it for the first time. The demons were aware of it and knew it was a possibility of happening when they were assigned the mission. Alas they wouldn't have been able to refuse even if they wanted to. The only kickback was being part of Sesshomaru's clan left them with higher ranks in demon society than they already had on their own strength. Even in their time the demon lord was incredibly strong and well respected. He was once king of Makai, but stepped down claiming that it was his own business, but would return at a later time.

"The half-breed chose to be disloyal and turn on his own pack. It is my responsibility to atone for his actions for further defiling our clan name and reputation. What is it that I can do to help atone for his foolish mistakes?"

"I request that my pack and I be allowed access to your lands to search for the jewel shards."

"It is done."

"Thank you, Lord Sesshomaru. May I make one more request?"

"For a price, miko."

"Hai. Your ward Rin, she is tutored and educated. Would it be too much to ask that you also have Shen and Shippo tutored as well? They are kits and in need of education."

"Knowledge is a powerful weapon, miko. This is a heavy request."

"I am aware, My Lord."

Sesshomaru's eyes then looked at the kits who sat close to Kagome than the rest of her pack. They behaved as they should with no outburst of any kind. They were respectful and indeed capable of learning. They also seemed happy and to care greatly for their mother figure. He had seen Rin slowly becoming sad and wistful when she witnessed other children and their families. At first it had not bothered her due to constant traveling. However after staying home at the fortress for a few months she was constantly exposed to it. He was able to pay for tutors so she would learn most things. However some things money could not buy…

"In exchange you will mother Rin and take her in as though she were one of your own."

Everyone but Kagome reacted. More than a few of their eyes bulged with shock. A few took in a sharp breath at the implications of this. Jaken was the most shocked and let out a loud squawk. Kagome however just smiled.

"I would be most honored." Her voice was flooded with motherly emotion.

"In any event Rin shall still live and travel with me."

"Whatever you decide is best for her, Lord Sesshomaru."

Sesshomaru nodded, pleased with her response.

"While you are here your pack will not cause unseemly ruckus, will they?" he inquired.

"I can assure you they will be on their best behavior and we will do our best not to destroy things that lie within your land."

"Make sure of it, miko."

With that he rose to stand on his feet, the movement was practiced and flowed like water. The rest of his little group followed and came to their feet. Kagome then also pulled herself up and out of the seiza position; the rest of her group followed her example.

"Come. We go to the fortress where we may discuss more on this matter and the implications of you being Rin's mother."

Kagome nodded and grabbed her backpack and other supplies. They were quickly ready to depart having made up the camp before Sesshomaru arrived.

Jaken squawked indignantly. "Milord! Are you sure this is a wise decision?"

Sesshomaru twirled landing a solid kick in Jaken's face, sending him flying into the nearest tree.

"My lord… I'm sorry… I forgot my place" he breathed out recovering from his punishment.

"Master Jaken, it wasn't very smart to question our Lord and his choices." Rin said as she squatted looking at the green imp.

"Silence you, Brat!"

That earned him two rocks landing squarely in the middle of his forehead. This confused Jaken for normally his lord only threw one rock at a time.

"Oh… my Lord…" he said dizzily.

"Hn." Was his reply to the imp. "Miko, your word is good." He said to his ward's new mother. She had thrown the first rock, which crashed a second before his rock did in his retainers head. Kagome just nodded her thanks for the compliment even though it wasn't needed.

Her kits were ready by her sides while her pack was ready standing slightly behind her, her intended the furthest back.

Hiei was aware of the slight claim the demon lord made on _his_ intended. It was normal to have a second mate to strengthen packs, which is how Kagome operated he was aware. It was new to him, and he didn't like to share, but it was the way of his kind, so it only disgruntled him. Still he accepted it in stride, further proving his worthiness to be the celestial miko's mate.

As for this fortress of his, it was rumored to have stayed the same throughout the years to present day. The only ones allowed to enter for the past 200 years though were family, pack, and employees. The rare occasion where someone would be summoned, which seemed to happen annually. It peaked his interest and was glad for this turn of events.

"It shall take a day's walk to reach the fortress." He stated before he started walking leading them in the direction of his fortress.

The rest of them followed, including Jaken who had to run to catch up with his lord. Their day was uneventful; although Yusuke could be heard grumbling under his breath about their lengthy walks. They stopped 5 times so the children would be able to relax, each time Yusuke was extremely grateful for the kids.

Around dusk the fortress came into sight and half of Kagome's pack breathed just a little easier. Happy sighs were heard and relief flooded into many eyes after such a long walk. Sesshomaru slowed down for no one and took great strides, never lessening his pace. A few times the kids were placed on Ah-Un's back while the adults continued to walk. Yet it was worth it as they saved time and were able to sleep in beds tonight.

Two of the guards at the entrance opened the great doors upon their arrival, Sesshomaru still leading the way. When he was 20 steps past the gate he turned around and faced them.

"Welcome to the Taisho Fortress."

**End Chapter**

AN: Thank you SO much for staying with me for this long! So many years, I am so thankful for all of you. I love your reviews as they are the things that make me write my chapters. My latest ones have made my heart happy enough that I was able to write this for you. There will obviously be more to come.

So review, the more I get, the quicker you will get updates and chapters.


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